COVID-19 New Cases 7,175 · Severe Cases 840... 'Record High' (Update)

On the 8th, as the number of new COVID-19 cases exceeded 7,000, the screening clinic at Dongdaemun-gu Public Health Center in Seoul was crowded with citizens seeking testing. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] The number of new COVID-19 cases has surpassed 7,000 for the first time. The number of critically ill patients also exceeded 800 for the first time, marking an all-time high.

The Central Disease Control Headquarters announced on the 8th at midnight that there were 7,175 new confirmed cases, bringing the total to 489,484.

The number of new confirmed cases is the highest ever since the first domestic COVID-19 case was reported on January 20 last year, exceeding the previous record of 5,352 cases on the 4th by 1,823. It also surged by 2,221 compared to 4,954 cases the day before.

Looking at the trend in confirmed cases, the number first entered the 4,000 range on the 24th of last month with 4,115 cases, and reached the 5,000 range for the first time a week later on the 1st with 5,122 cases. After maintaining the high 4,000s, it skipped the 6,000 range and jumped straight to over 7,000 cases on this day.

The number of critically ill patients also reached a record high of 840, increasing by 66 from the previous record of 774 the day before.

These records appear to be due to increased social activities following the transition to a phased recovery of daily life on the 1st of last month. Although the government implemented special quarantine measures from the 6th, such as reducing the size of private gatherings and expanding the scope of the vaccine pass, the effects are expected to appear in 1 to 2 weeks. Meanwhile, there are concerns that quarantine indicators such as the number of confirmed cases, critically ill patients, and deaths will continue to worsen.

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