Newly Confirmed Cases 2,827, Highest Monday Announcement... Critically Ill 515 (Update)

On the 22nd, when full in-person attendance began at elementary, middle, and high schools nationwide, children were attending school at an elementary school in Seoul. Nationwide full in-person attendance, including the metropolitan area, is the first time in four semesters since the new school year started in March last year when the COVID-19 crisis intensified. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] The number of new domestic COVID-19 cases reached 2,827 on the 22nd, marking the highest Monday announcement to date.

The Central Disease Control Headquarters announced that as of midnight on that day, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country increased by 2,827 from the previous day to 418,252. Of these, 2,806 were domestic cases and 21 were imported cases.

By region, Seoul reported 1,274 cases, Gyeonggi 817 cases, and Incheon 159 cases, totaling 2,250 cases (80.2%), indicating that the spread remains centered in the metropolitan area.

Non-metropolitan areas reported a total of 556 cases (19.8%), including Busan with 89 cases, Gyeongnam 63, Gwangju 57, Gangwon 55, Daegu 53, Chungnam 47, Gyeongbuk 39, Daejeon 36, Jeonbuk 34, Chungbuk 26, Jeonnam 25, Jeju 17, Ulsan 10, and Sejong 5.

Among the 21 imported cases, 7 were detected during quarantine, and 14 were confirmed within the local community.

The number of critically ill patients currently hospitalized, which had been rapidly increasing recently, decreased by 2 from the previous day to 515, maintaining the 500 range.

The death toll increased by 24 from the previous day, reaching a total of 3,298. The resulting fatality rate stands at 0.79%.

According to the COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team, 1,375 people received their first dose the previous day, bringing the total number of first-dose recipients to 42,238,535. The vaccination rate for the first dose relative to the population is 82.3%. Among those aged 18 and over, 93.2% have completed their first dose.

The number of people who completed vaccination the previous day was 2,126, bringing the total to 40,495,533. The vaccination completion rate relative to the population is 78.9%, and 90.9% among those aged 18 and over.

The number of people who received additional doses (booster shots) the previous day was 1,937, with a total of 1,809,674 having received boosters.

On the same day, Jeon Hae-cheol, the 2nd Deputy Director of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety), stated in his opening remarks at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting, "The average daily number of critically ill patients has been increasing for three consecutive weeks since the first week of November," and "With the increasing number of severe patients and average bed occupancy rates, the government will make every effort to secure beds and medical personnel, while expanding additional vaccinations for high-risk groups to minimize the number of severe patients."

Deputy Director Jeon also pledged to ensure thorough disinfection of school facilities in line with the full return to in-person classes at all levels of schools in the metropolitan area.

He explained, "The government will utilize about 1,800 disinfection personnel deployed to approximately 600 overcrowded schools in the metropolitan area to ensure thorough disinfection of school facilities," adding, "For facilities outside schools with high infection risks such as academies, PC rooms, and karaoke rooms, a ‘School Life Infection Prevention Guidance and Inspection Team’ consisting of about 1,300 participants including local governments, education offices, and parents will operate until the end of the year to strengthen safety management activities such as after-school life guidance."

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