COVID-19 New Cases Stay in 500s for Three Consecutive Days... Over 14 Million Receive First Vaccine Dose

On the morning of the 14th, citizens lined up to receive COVID-19 screening tests at the Jung-gu Temporary Screening Clinic set up in Seoul Station Plaza. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] The number of new COVID-19 cases in South Korea has remained in the 500s for three consecutive days. The number of people who have completed the first dose of vaccination has surpassed 14 million, reaching 14.23 million. The vaccination rate relative to the population has risen to 27.7%.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency's Central Disease Control Headquarters (CDCH) announced on the 18th at midnight that the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases increased by 507 from the previous day to 150,238. The sources of the new cases were 484 local transmissions and 23 imported cases.

Among the locally transmitted cases, 76% occurred in the Seoul metropolitan area. There were 197 cases (40.7%) in Seoul, 151 cases (31.2%) in Gyeonggi, and 21 cases (4.3%) in Incheon, totaling 369 cases in the metropolitan area.

Other regions reported the following cases: 19 in Chungbuk, 12 in Daejeon, 12 in Gyeongnam, 11 in Daegu, 11 in Ulsan, 10 in Gyeongbuk, 9 in Busan, 9 in Gangwon, 7 in Chungnam, 6 in Jeju, 4 in Jeonnam, 3 in Jeonbuk, 1 in Gwangju, and 1 in Sejong.

There were 23 imported cases. Among them, 10 were detected during quarantine, and 13 were confirmed in the community. Fourteen were Korean nationals and nine were foreigners.

The total number of tests conducted the previous day was 68,547. At temporary screening centers set up in the metropolitan area, 28,961 tests were conducted, confirming 73 new cases. In non-metropolitan temporary screening centers, 3,374 tests were conducted, confirming 2 new cases.

The number of patients who have recovered and been released from isolation reached 141,816, an increase of 787 from the previous day. Among hospitalized patients, the number of critically ill patients decreased by 7 to 149. The death toll rose by 2 to 1,996.

On the 16th, police forces are administering vaccines at the COVID-19 vaccination center in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

Meanwhile, as of midnight on the same day, 412,987 people received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, bringing the total number of first-dose recipients to 14,233,045. Among them, 9,747,420 received the AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine, 3,424,837 received the Pfizer vaccine, and 1,067,466 received the Janssen vaccine. The vaccination rate relative to the population is 27.7%.

The number of people who completed vaccination increased by 127,643 from the previous day to 3,884,710. The population vaccination rate for the second dose is 7.6%. For the AZ vaccine, 21,051 people newly completed vaccination, bringing the cumulative total to 801,323. For the Pfizer vaccine, 81,409 people received an additional dose, bringing the total to 2,015,921. The Janssen vaccine was developed as a single-dose vaccine, so all first-dose recipients are considered fully vaccinated.

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