344 New COVID-19 Cases... Three Consecutive Days in the 300s

On the last day of the Lunar New Year holiday, the 14th, citizens are waiting to be tested at a temporary COVID-19 screening clinic set up at Seoul Station Plaza. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] The daily number of new COVID-19 cases in South Korea remained in the 300s for the third consecutive day.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency's Central Disease Control Headquarters (CDCH) announced on the 15th at midnight that the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases increased by 344 from the previous day to 83,869.

The sources of infection for the new confirmed cases were 323 local transmissions and 21 imported cases.

About 80% of the locally transmitted cases occurred in the Seoul metropolitan area. Seoul reported 147 cases (45.5%), Gyeonggi 99 cases (30.7%), and Incheon 9 cases (2.8%), totaling 255 cases in the metropolitan area, accounting for 78.9% of all cases.

Additionally, new confirmed cases were reported as follows: 15 in Busan, 12 in Daegu, 9 in Incheon, 9 in Chungnam, 8 in Gyeongbuk, 6 in Daejeon, 4 in Jeonbuk, 4 in Jeonnam, 3 in Gwangju, 3 in Ulsan, 3 in Gyeongnam, and 1 in Gangwon. No new cases were reported in Sejong, Chungbuk, or Jeju.

There were 21 imported cases. Among them, 6 were detected during quarantine, and the remaining 15 were identified locally. Nine were Korean nationals and 12 were foreigners.

The number of patients who have recovered and been released from isolation reached 73,794, an increase of 235 from the previous day. Among the confirmed cases receiving inpatient treatment, the number of critically ill patients remained at 156, unchanged from the previous day. The death toll rose by 5 to 1,527.

On the previous day, 22,774 diagnostic tests were conducted on suspected cases. At temporary screening clinics set up in the metropolitan area, 20,538 tests were performed, confirming 50 new cases.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.