New COVID-19 Cases Total 1,287... Including 270 from Cheonghae Unit, Total 1,557

On the 21st, as the spread of COVID-19 continues, citizens are waiting for testing at the temporary screening clinic in the public parking lot of Sinchon Train Station, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] COVID-19 confirmed cases are surging across the country.

According to health authorities and local governments including Seoul City, from midnight to 6 p.m. on this day, a total of 1,287 new COVID-19 positive cases were reported nationwide. This is 155 fewer than the 1,442 cases recorded at the same time the previous day.

Including 270 confirmed cases among the Cheonghae Unit personnel, who are not included in this count, the total rises to 1,557, setting a record high as of 6 p.m.

Among the 301 members of the 34th Cheonghae Unit, who were deployed to the Gulf of Aden and returned early due to a cluster infection the previous day, 247 tested positive in local tests, and an additional 23 were confirmed positive through PCR tests conducted after their return.

As of 6 p.m., the daily confirmed cases have been as follows since the number first exceeded 1,000 on the 6th of this month (1,006 cases): 1,010 → 1,039 → 1,050 → 922 → 921 → 903 → 1,288 → 1,263 → 1,192 → 1,143 → 1,061 → 1,042 → 987 → 1,442 → 1,287.

Looking at the regions where cases were confirmed on this day, 862 cases (77.0%) were in the Seoul metropolitan area, and 425 cases (33.0%) were in non-metropolitan areas.

The number of confirmed cases by city/province is as follows: Seoul 447, Gyeonggi 308, Incheon 107, Busan 100, Gyeongnam 76, Daejeon 54, Daegu 33, Gangwon 32, Gyeongbuk 27, Chungnam 26, Chungbuk 22, Ulsan 19, Jeju 18, Jeonnam 9, Gwangju 7, Jeonbuk 2.

The fourth wave, which began centered in the Seoul metropolitan area, is recently spreading to non-metropolitan regions.

The daily number of confirmed cases has remained in the four digits since the 7th (1,212 cases), marking the 16th consecutive day as of the 22nd.

In the past week (July 15?21), the daily new confirmed cases were 1,599 → 1,536 → 1,452 → 1,454 → 1,252 → 1,278 → 1,784, consistently exceeding 1,200 cases each day.

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