COVID-19 New Cases 473... Dropping to 400s Amid Weekend Impact

On the 4th, citizens are lining up to get tested at a temporary screening clinic installed at Seoul Station. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] The cumulative number of COVID-19 cases in South Korea has dropped to the 400s for the first time in six days. However, experts caution that this figure cannot be taken lightly due to a decrease in testing volume during the holiday period.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) Central Disease Control Headquarters announced on the 5th at midnight that the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases increased by 473 from the previous day to 105,752.

The sources of the new confirmed cases were 449 local transmissions and 24 imported cases.

About 60% of the locally transmitted cases occurred in the Seoul metropolitan area. Specifically, Seoul reported 149 cases (33.2%), Gyeonggi 108 cases (24.1%), and Incheon 19 cases (4.2%), totaling 276 cases in the metropolitan area, which accounts for 61.5% of all confirmed cases.

Other regions reported new cases as follows: Busan 46, Daegu 22, Gyeongbuk 20, Jeonbuk 16, Gangwon 14, Chungnam 14, Daejeon 13, Gyeongnam 11, Chungbuk 7, Sejong 4, Jeonnam 3, Jeju 2, and Ulsan 1. No new cases were reported in Gwangju.

There were 24 imported cases, with 10 detected during quarantine and 14 identified in the community. Among these, 12 were Korean nationals and 12 were foreigners.

The number of patients who have recovered and been released from isolation reached 96,900, an increase of 311 from the previous day. Among hospitalized patients, the number of critically ill cases decreased by 2 to 97. The death toll rose by 4 to 1,748.

The total number of tests conducted the previous day was 33,651. At temporary screening clinics set up in the metropolitan area, 14,307 tests were performed, confirming 49 new cases.

Meanwhile, as of midnight on the same day, 629 people received new COVID-19 vaccinations, bringing the total number of first-dose recipients to 960,230. Among them, 856,006 received the AstraZeneca vaccine and 106,724 received the Pfizer vaccine. The number of people who completed the second dose of the Pfizer vaccine increased by 66 from the previous day to 27,364.

Reports of suspected adverse reactions increased by 7 to a total of 10,997. Among these, one severe case involving convulsions required intensive care unit admission. The remaining six cases involved common post-vaccination symptoms such as muscle pain, headache, fever, chills, and nausea.

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