374 New COVID-19 Cases Confirmed by 6 PM... 400s Expected Tomorrow

Hong Nam-ki, Acting Prime Minister, is delivering a public address on vaccine supply and inoculation plans at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on the 26th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] The spread of COVID-19 in South Korea is showing no signs of slowing down. According to health authorities and local governments including Seoul City, from midnight to 6 p.m. on the 26th, a total of 374 new COVID-19 cases were reported over an 18-hour period.

This is 63 fewer than the 437 cases recorded during the same time frame the previous day. By region, 278 cases (74.3%) were reported in the metropolitan area, and 96 cases (25.7%) in non-metropolitan areas. The breakdown is as follows: Gyeonggi 158, Seoul 95, Incheon 25, Busan 23, Gyeongnam 22, Gyeongbuk 13, Daegu and Chungnam 9 each, Chungbuk 7, Ulsan 4, Gwangju and Daejeon 3 each, Gangwon 2, and Jeonnam 1.

Since there is still time until midnight when the daily count is finalized, the number of new cases announced at 0:00 on the 27th is expected to increase further, likely reaching the 400s. On the previous day, 63 additional cases were reported after 6 p.m., bringing the final total to 500.

However, the lower number of cases in this interim report partly reflects a decrease in testing during the weekend and holidays, so it is difficult to conclude that the spread is immediately slowing down. Looking at the pattern of case occurrences, the number of confirmed cases tends to be low in the early part of the week but then rises sharply from midweek onward.

Major infection cases include gatherings of acquaintances and family, as well as infections occurring in everyday places such as restaurants, saunas, PC bangs, workplaces, and churches. At a PC bang in Geumcheon-gu, Seoul, after the first confirmed case on the 20th, nine more people tested positive consecutively, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 10. The cumulative number of confirmed cases related to the middle and high school table tennis tournament in Cheongyang-gun, Chungnam, where the first case was reported on the 23rd, has also increased to 7.

In the acquaintance gathering case in Jinju-si, Gyeongnam, three more people tested positive, bringing the total to 91, and in an apartment gathering in Hongcheon-gun, Gangwon, after the first case on the 24th, 10 additional people tested positive, raising the cumulative total to 11.

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