585 New COVID-19 Cases... Below 600 Due to Weekend Effect (Summary)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] The number of new COVID-19 cases recorded in the late 500s on the 23rd.

The Central Disease Control Headquarters announced that as of midnight on this day, 585 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed, bringing the total to 135,929.

This is 81 fewer than the previous day (666 cases), dropping back to the 500s after one day. It is the second day in two days to be in the 500s since the 21st (561 cases).

Among the new cases, 570 were locally transmitted and 15 were imported. The number of locally transmitted cases decreased by 63 from the previous day (633 cases).

The death toll increased by 5 from the previous day, reaching a total of 1,931. The domestic average fatality rate stands at 1.42%. The number of critically ill patients is 149, down by 1 from the previous day (150).

The number of patients released from isolation increased by 849, totaling 125,881, while the number of patients currently under isolation treatment decreased by 269, totaling 8,117.

By region, Seoul reported 180 cases, Gyeonggi 150, and Incheon 12, with the metropolitan area accounting for 342 cases (60.0%).

Non-metropolitan areas reported a total of 228 cases (40.0%), including Daegu 57, Chungnam 24, Ulsan 23, Gangwon 18, Gyeongnam 17, Busan and Jeonbuk 14 each, Daejeon and Gyeongbuk 12 each, Jeonnam 10, Gwangju and Chungbuk 9 each, Jeju 8, and Sejong 1.

The number of new cases over the past week from the 17th to this day were 619 → 528 → 654 → 646 → 561 → 666 → 585 daily. The daily average over the week was about 608 cases, and the key indicator for adjusting social distancing levels, the daily average of locally transmitted cases, was 586, still within the level 2.5 range (nationwide 400?500 or more).

Since the number of tests conducted over the weekend significantly decreased, it is difficult to interpret this as a decline in the spread. Usually, due to weekend and holiday effects, fewer cases are reported in the early week, with an increase starting midweek.

The government has extended the current 'social distancing' measures (level 2 in the metropolitan area, level 1.5 in non-metropolitan areas) for three weeks until the 13th of next month, considering the risk factors such as increased springtime mobility and the spread of the highly transmissible UK variant, despite fluctuations in new cases between 500 and 700 recently.

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