New Cases Continue to Spread with 1,673 Confirmed... Below 2,000 for the First Time in 11 Days Due to Holiday Impact

by Lee Jungyun

Published 04 Oct.2021 10:00(KST)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] Amid the ongoing spread of COVID-19, the number of new confirmed cases on the 4th reached the high 1600s.

The Central Disease Control Headquarters (CDCH) announced that as of midnight on that day, 1,673 new confirmed cases were added, bringing the total to 319,777.

The number of new confirmed cases decreased by 412 from the previous day, dropping below 2,000 for the first time in 11 days since recording 1,715 on the 23rd of last month. However, this is due to a significant reduction in testing during the weekend and holidays, so it is too early to conclude that the number of confirmed cases is on a downward trend. Typically, weekly trends show that cases decrease over the weekend and holidays and into the early part of the week, then surge sharply from Wednesday onward.

Despite consecutive quarantine measures, the spread has not eased, continuing for two consecutive weeks through the National Foundation Day and Hangeul Day holidays, coinciding with the autumn foliage season, meaning the scale of confirmed cases could increase again at any time.

With infection sources continuing nationwide, the daily confirmed cases have remained in the four-digit range for 90 consecutive days since July 7, when 1,211 cases were reported.

Looking at the new confirmed cases over the past week from the 28th of last month to this day, the daily numbers were 2,289 → 2,884 → 2,562 → 2,486 → 2,248 → 285 → 1,673, showing that except for this day, daily cases were above 2,000. The daily average over the week was about 2,318 cases, with an average of 2,292 cases from local transmissions.

Regarding the infection routes of the new confirmed cases on this day, 1,653 were local transmissions and 20 were imported cases. Among the local transmissions, the metropolitan area accounted for 1,218 cases (73.7%), including Seoul with 570, Gyeonggi with 530, and Incheon with 118. Non-metropolitan areas reported 435 cases (26.3%), including Daegu 67, North Gyeongsang 60, South Gyeongsang 47, North Chungcheong 45, South Chungcheong 42, Daejeon 38, Busan and Gangwon each 37, North Jeolla 21, Gwangju and South Jeolla each 13, Jeju 7, Ulsan 5, and Sejong 3.

The number of imported confirmed cases was 20, eight fewer than the 28 cases reported the previous day. Among these, nine were identified during airport or port quarantine processes. The remaining 11 tested positive while in self-quarantine at their residences or temporary living facilities in Seoul and Gyeonggi (four each), Incheon (two), and Daegu (one).

Combining local transmissions and imported cases (excluding quarantine), the metropolitan area totaled 1,228 cases: Seoul 574, Gyeonggi 534, and Incheon 120. Confirmed cases were reported across all 17 provinces nationwide.

The number of deaths increased by six from the previous day, reaching a cumulative total of 2,051. The domestic average fatality rate stands at 0.79%. The number of critically ill patients totaled 348, an increase of two from 346 the previous day.

The number of tests conducted at screening clinics for suspected cases and others on the previous day was 26,098, which is 4,332 fewer than the 30,430 tests conducted the day before (originally 30,431, with one erroneous report excluded). Compared to the previous weekday (announced as of midnight on the 1st), which had 51,967 tests, this is about half. Separately, a total of 61,192 tests were conducted at temporary screening clinics nationwide.

So far, the total number of COVID-19 diagnostic tests conducted at regular screening clinics in Korea is 14,701,224, of which 319,777 tested positive and 13,165,254 tested negative. The remaining 1,216,193 tests are awaiting results. As of midnight on this day, the cumulative positive rate in Korea is 2.18% (319,777 out of 14,701,002 tests).