541 New Confirmed Cases by 6 PM... 600s Expected Tomorrow in Mid to Late Range

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] According to the quarantine authorities and local governments including Seoul City, as of 6 p.m. on the 17th, a total of 541 new COVID-19 positive cases were confirmed nationwide. This is one more than the 540 cases recorded at the same time the previous day.

Since there is still time until midnight when the tally closes, the number of new confirmed cases announced as of 0 a.m. on the 18th is expected to reach the mid-to-high 600s. On the previous day, 118 cases were added after 6 p.m., closing at a final count of 658.

Looking at the regions where confirmed cases were reported, 340 cases (62.8%) were from the metropolitan area, and 201 cases (37.2%) were from non-metropolitan areas. By city and province, there were 164 cases in Seoul, 157 in Gyeonggi, 61 in Gyeongnam, 28 in Ulsan, 26 in Busan, 23 in Gyeongbuk, 19 in Incheon, 13 in Chungnam, 12 in Daegu, 10 in Gangwon, 7 each in Gwangju and Jeonbuk, 6 in Chungbuk, 5 in Daejeon, 2 in Jeonnam, and 1 in Jeju. Among the 17 cities and provinces nationwide, Sejong has not yet reported any confirmed cases.

From the 11th to the 17th, the number of new confirmed cases per day was 614 → 587 → 542 → 731 → 698 → 673 → 658, averaging about 643 cases per day.

The daily average of locally transmitted confirmed cases, a key indicator for adjusting the 'social distancing' level, was 621, exceeding the upper limit of the 2.5 level standard (nationwide 400 to 500 or more, or rapid increase such as doubling of cases).

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