COVID-19 New Cases 681... Below 700 for the First Time in Three Days (Summary)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] As the spread of COVID-19 continues domestically, the number of new confirmed cases on the 15th recorded in the high 600s. It dropped by about 60 cases compared to the previous day, falling below 700 for the first time in three days since the 12th (635 cases).

On the 15th, the Central Disease Control Headquarters (CDCH) announced that as of midnight, 681 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed, bringing the total to 131,061.

This is 66 cases fewer than the previous day (747 cases).

With cluster infections erupting nationwide recently, the '4th wave' continues.

The number of new confirmed cases over the past week from the 9th to the 15th were 564 → 463 → 511 → 635 → 715 → 747 → 681 respectively. During this period, there was one day in the 400s, two days each in the 500s, 600s, and 700s.

With an average of about 617 cases per day over the week, the key indicator for adjusting the 'social distancing' level, the daily average of locally transmitted cases, stands at 591, still within the 2.5 level range (nationwide 400?500 or more).

Among the new confirmed cases on this day, 661 were locally transmitted and 20 were imported.

The number of locally transmitted cases decreased by 68 from the previous day (729 cases).

By region, Seoul reported 253 cases, Gyeonggi 168 cases, Incheon 16 cases, totaling 437 cases (66.1%) in the metropolitan area.

Non-metropolitan areas reported a total of 224 cases (33.9%), including Busan 41, Gyeongnam 38, Jeonnam 26, Ulsan 22, Gyeongbuk 19, Jeju 14, Gangwon 12, Gwangju, Daejeon, Chungnam, Jeonbuk 10 each, Chungbuk 5, Daegu 4, and Sejong 3.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Regarding major cluster infection cases, since the 11th, a total of 47 people have been confirmed positive related to a meat processing company in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province (2nd case), and at least 14 people have been confirmed positive since the 11th at a workplace in Gangnam-gu, Seoul (18th case).

In Gyeongnam, the number of confirmed cases related to the Ramadan ending celebration event in Gimhae and a grocery store operated by Uzbek nationals continues to rise, reaching a total of 15. In Gangwon Provincial Office and Incheon Free Economic Zone Authority, one confirmed case each was reported, leading to hundreds of employees undergoing diagnostic tests.

The number of imported confirmed cases was 20, two more than the previous day (18 cases).

Among them, nine were identified during quarantine at airports or ports. The remaining 11 tested positive while in self-quarantine at their residences or temporary living facilities in Gyeonggi, Chungnam, Gyeongnam (2 each), and Seoul, Busan, Daegu, Gwangju, Jeonbuk (1 each).

The presumed countries of origin for these imported cases are India with 4 cases, followed by the United States, the Philippines, and Turkey with 3 cases each, and Pakistan, Japan, Thailand, Iraq, Poland, Austria, and Ghana with 1 case each. Among them, 9 are Korean nationals and 11 are foreigners.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Combining local and imported cases (excluding quarantine), Seoul reported 254 cases, Gyeonggi 170 cases, Incheon 16 cases, totaling 440 cases. Confirmed cases were reported across all 17 cities and provinces nationwide.

The number of deaths increased by 3 from the previous day, totaling 1,896. The domestic average fatality rate is 1.45%.

The number of critically ill patients is 150, down by 3 from the previous day (153).

As of this day, 887 patients have been released from isolation, bringing the total to 121,282, while the number of patients currently in isolation treatment decreased by 209 to a total of 7,883.

The total number of COVID-19 diagnostic tests conducted domestically so far is 9,319,094, of which 9,088,817 tested negative, and 99,216 are awaiting results.

The number of tests conducted through screening clinics on the previous day was 37,803, 2,335 fewer than the 40,138 tests conducted the day before.

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