COVID-19 New Cases 1,418... Is the Soaring Spread Slowing Down?

Below 1,500 Cases After 6 Days
Infection Reproduction Number Drops to 1.02

Average Local Cases 1,710.9
Still High, Vigilance Is Essential

On the 22nd, citizens who came up from the provinces by airplane are getting tested for COVID-19 at the 'Mobile Screening Clinic' installed in the domestic parking lot of Gimpo Airport in Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] The number of new COVID-19 cases in South Korea fell below 1,500 for the first time in six days. The upward trend in daily new cases, which had been setting record highs on consecutive days, appears to be slowing down somewhat.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency's Central Disease Control Headquarters reported that as of midnight on the 23rd, the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases increased by 1,418 from the previous day to 237,782. Since the beginning of this month, the number of new cases reported at midnight on Mondays has fluctuated as 1,218 → 1,491 → 1,555 → 1,418, indicating a slowdown in the rising trend. The number of cases over the weekend of the 21st and 22nd also showed a slight decrease compared to the previous week.

The reproduction number, an indicator used to assess the spread of the virus by measuring how many people one infected person infects, also slightly declined from 1.10 the previous week to 1.02 during the week of the 15th to the 21st. Kang Doo-tae, the first coordinator of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, commented, "It is a fortunate development that the scale of the outbreak is no longer rapidly increasing and is stabilizing."

However, concerns remain as the number of daily cases has stayed above 1,000 for 48 consecutive days, making it premature to be complacent. The weekly average of locally transmitted cases, a key indicator for adjusting social distancing levels, remains high at 1,710.9.

Earlier this month, the spread appeared to slow down somewhat, but in mid-month, cases surged again into the 2,000s, making it difficult to ease vigilance. Deputy Prime Minister Kang also emphasized, "Considering the rapid transmissibility of the Delta variant, it is not easy to control the outbreak in a short period. It is a critical time to make every effort to suppress the spread as much as possible until the effects of vaccination in blocking transmission and reducing fatality rates are fully realized."

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