540 New Confirmed Cases... First Dose Vaccination Rate at 26.9% (Update)

523 Local Cases, 17 Imported Cases

Surpassing the initial target of 13 million for the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, police forces are administering vaccines at the COVID-19 Vaccination Center in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, which achieved the goal earlier than expected on the 16th. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ji-hee] The number of new COVID-19 cases in South Korea remained in the 500s for the second consecutive day.

The Central Disease Control Headquarters (CDCH) announced on the 17th at midnight that 540 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed, bringing the total to 149,731. Of these, 523 were locally transmitted and 17 were imported cases. On the same day, the number of suspected case tests was 28,452, with 30,113 tests conducted at temporary screening centers in the metropolitan area and 3,525 tests at temporary screening centers outside the metropolitan area, totaling over 60,000 tests. Among these, 101 tested positive at metropolitan area screening centers, and 13 tested positive at non-metropolitan centers.

In the metropolitan area, Seoul reported 199 cases, Gyeonggi 181 cases, and Incheon 17 cases. Outside the metropolitan area, additional cases were reported in all regions: Ulsan 22, Chungbuk and Daejeon 18 each, Busan 15, Jeju 8, Daegu 7, Gwangju, Gangwon, Jeonbuk, and Jeonnam 6 each, Chungnam and Gyeongnam 5 each, Gyeongbuk 3, and Sejong 1.

The cumulative death toll from COVID-19 increased by one to 1,994. The number of critically ill patients decreased by three to 156. The number of patients who have recovered and been released from isolation increased by 591 to 141,029.

According to the COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team, as of midnight on the same day, 540,248 people received their first dose, bringing the cumulative total of first-dose vaccinations to 13,798,410. The number of people who completed vaccination increased by 280,928 to a total of 3,755,040. For the Janssen vaccine, which requires only one dose, 1,041,512 out of 1,083,580 eligible recipients have been vaccinated, achieving a vaccination rate of 96.1%. The vaccination rate relative to the population was 26.9% for the first dose and 7.3% for completed vaccinations.

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