New COVID-19 Cases in the 1,000s... Lowest Since the 4th Wave (Update)

On the 18th, the first day of the last social distancing measures before the phased daily recovery (With Corona) implementation, passengers heading to the United States were lining up for boarding procedures at Terminal 2 departure hall of Incheon International Airport. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] The number of new COVID-19 cases in South Korea dropped to the 1,000 range on the 18th. This is the lowest figure since the '4th wave' began in early July.

The Central Disease Control Headquarters (CDCH) announced that as of midnight on the day, 1,050 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed domestically, bringing the total to 343,445. Of these, 1,030 were domestic cases and 20 were imported cases.

By region, Seoul reported 352 cases, Gyeonggi 358 cases, and Incheon 84 cases, totaling 794 cases (77.09%) in the metropolitan area.

Non-metropolitan areas reported a total of 236 cases (22.91%), including Daegu 41, Busan 35, Chungnam 33, Chungbuk 29, Gyeongnam 28, Gyeongbuk 18, Jeonbuk 17, Jeonnam 9, Gangwon 8, Jeju 6, Daejeon 5, Ulsan 3, and Gwangju and Sejong 2 each.

All 20 imported cases were confirmed within the local community. Among them, 11 were Korean nationals and 9 were foreigners.

The death toll increased by 8 the previous day, bringing the total deaths to 2,668, with a fatality rate of 0.78%. The number of critically ill patients is 345.

The number of newly released from isolation increased by 1,437, totaling 311,781.

The number of suspected cases tested was 25,482, and 37,859 tests were conducted at temporary screening clinics set up in the metropolitan area, resulting in 260 confirmed cases. In non-metropolitan temporary screening clinics, 8,543 tests were conducted, identifying 18 confirmed cases. The total number of tests conducted was 71,884.

According to the COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team, 1,489 people received their first dose the previous day, bringing the total number of first-dose recipients to 40,402,620. The vaccination rate for the first dose relative to the population is 78.7%. Among those aged 18 and older, 91.5% have completed their first dose.

The number of people who completed vaccination the previous day was 18,883, bringing the total to 33,185,615. The vaccination completion rate relative to the population is 64.6%.

As of midnight on the 17th to 18th, 2,121 new cases suspected of adverse reactions following COVID-19 vaccination were reported.

Among these, there was 1 suspected case of anaphylaxis, 31 major adverse reaction cases including neurological symptoms, and 6 new death cases reported.

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