New COVID-19 Cases at 677... Exceeding 600 for Four Consecutive Days

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] As the fourth wave of COVID-19 begins, the number of new confirmed cases on the 10th recorded in the high 600s.

The Central Disease Control Headquarters (CDCH) announced that as of midnight on this day, 677 new confirmed cases were added, bringing the total to 108,945. This is 6 more than the 671 cases reported the previous day.

From the 4th of this month to this day, the daily new confirmed cases over the past week were 543 → 473 → 477 → 668 → 700 → 671 → 677. During this period, there were two days in the 400s, one day in the 500s, three days in the 600s, and one day in the 700s.

Looking at the infection routes of the new confirmed cases on this day, 662 were locally transmitted and 15 were imported from overseas. The number of locally transmitted cases continued in the 600s for four consecutive days following 653, 674, and 644 cases recorded from the 7th to the 9th.

By region, Seoul reported 198 cases, Gyeonggi 199 cases, and Incheon 24 cases, with the metropolitan area totaling 421 cases, accounting for 63.6% of all local transmissions.

The number of deaths increased by one from the previous day, reaching a cumulative total of 1,765. The domestic average fatality rate stands at 1.62%. The number of critically ill patients totaled 108, down by 5 from the previous day.

The number of confirmed cases released from isolation increased by 515, totaling 99,301, while the number of patients currently under isolation treatment rose by 161 to 7,879.

The number of tests conducted at screening clinics on the previous day was 47,517, which is 825 more than the 46,692 tests conducted two days prior. The positivity rate, calculated as confirmed cases relative to the number of tests, was 1.42% (677 out of 47,517), slightly down from 1.44% (671 out of 46,692) the day before. The cumulative positivity rate as of midnight on this day is 1.34% (108,945 out of 8,106,630 tests).

With increased population movement in spring and significant latent infections within communities nationwide, large and small cluster infections are erupting across the country, making it highly likely that the scale of confirmed cases will grow further.

Accordingly, the government extended the current social distancing measures (Level 2 in the metropolitan area, Level 1.5 in non-metropolitan areas) and the nationwide ban on private gatherings of five or more people, which were scheduled to end on the 11th, for an additional three weeks until the 2nd of next month. It also imposed a closure order on entertainment facilities in Level 2 areas including the metropolitan area and Busan.

Meanwhile, confirmed cases continue to be identified at temporary screening clinics established to find hidden infections.

On the previous day, a total of 117 new confirmed cases were diagnosed at temporary screening clinics in the metropolitan area including Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon. This accounts for 17.7% of the newly reported local cases as of midnight on this day, and 27.8% of the local cases in the metropolitan area.

Since December 14 of last year until now, a total of 8,832 people have been confirmed positive at temporary screening clinics in the metropolitan area. Currently, there are 98 temporary screening clinics operating in the metropolitan area: 26 in Seoul, 66 in Gyeonggi, and 6 in Incheon. A total of 43,580 tests were conducted in one day yesterday.

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