COVID-19 New Cases Reach Highest Count as of 6 PM... Daily Cases Expected to Surpass 1,400 (Summary)

On the 13th, with 1,150 new COVID-19 cases reported, marking the first week with daily new cases exceeding 1,000, citizens waiting to be tested at a temporary screening clinic set up in Yeouido Park, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] As the daily new COVID-19 cases have exceeded 1,000 for seven consecutive days, the fear of the '4th wave' is growing. On the 13th, as of 6 p.m., the number of new confirmed cases approached 1,288, and the daily confirmed cases are expected to set a new record high once again.

According to the combined data from quarantine authorities, Seoul city, and other local governments, a total of 1,288 people nationwide were confirmed positive for COVID-19 by 6 p.m. on this day. This is 385 more than the 903 cases at the same time the previous day. Although the number of tests decreased over the past weekend, causing a slight slowdown in the increase of confirmed cases, the number of tests has risen again, leading to a sharp surge.

This is the highest number recorded as of 6 p.m. The interim tally of confirmed cases at 6 p.m. first exceeded 1,000 on the 6th, recording 1,006 cases since the outbreak of COVID-19. Since then, as the 4th wave intensified, the numbers have been 1,010 → 1,039 → 1,050 → 922 → 921 → 903 → 1,288.

Considering that about six hours remain until the official tally closes at midnight, the daily new confirmed cases as of midnight on the 14th are expected to surpass the previous record and exceed 1,400. The previous highest record at midnight was 1,378 cases on the 10th.

As of 6 p.m. on this day, 1,017 cases (79.0%) were reported in the metropolitan area, while 271 cases (21.0%) were reported in non-metropolitan areas. However, unlike the official statistics from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, this figure includes imported cases from overseas.

By city and province, the cases are as follows: ▲Seoul 563 ▲Gyeonggi 373 ▲Incheon 81 ▲Busan 60 ▲Gyeongnam 57 ▲Daegu 48 ▲Chungnam 28 ▲Gangwon 15 ▲Jeju 13 ▲Gyeongbuk 11 ▲Gwangju 9 ▲Chungbuk 9 ▲Daejeon 7 ▲Ulsan 6 ▲Jeonbuk 5 ▲Jeonnam 3. Sejong has not reported any confirmed cases yet.

In particular, Seoul is expected to surpass the previous daily maximum of 583 cases recorded on the 6th. At that time, the confirmed cases as of 6 p.m. were 521, and the current number already exceeds that by 42 cases.

Regarding the cluster infection at the Hyundai Department Store Trade Center branch in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, it was reported that 13 additional contacts tested positive, bringing the cumulative confirmed cases to 133. Among them, 100 are identified as employees.

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