Severe Cases Hit Another Record High... 6,236 New Confirmed Cases (Update)

Below 7,000 in Five Days... Impact of Fewer Tests
Severe and Critical Patients Remain in the 1,000s for Two Consecutive Days

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] On the second day of the strengthened implementation of the 'social distancing' measures, the number of new COVID-19 cases in South Korea recorded in the early 6000s on the 19th. The number of critically ill patients set a new record again following the previous day.

The Central Disease Control Headquarters announced that as of midnight, 6,236 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 565,098.

The number of new cases decreased by 1,077 compared to the previous day, falling below 7,000 for the first time in five days since the 14th (5,567 cases).

The new cases on this day were also 447 fewer than the 6,683 cases reported a week earlier on the 12th.

The decrease in new cases is believed to reflect the weekend effect, with fewer tests conducted initially, and the impact of snowfall the previous day reducing the number of people visiting testing centers.

The number of critically ill patients rose by 9 from 1,016 the day before to 1,025, maintaining the count above 1,000 for the second consecutive day.

The figure of 1,025 critically ill patients is the highest since the COVID-19 outbreak began in South Korea.

The number of deaths reported the previous day was 78, bringing the total cumulative deaths to 4,722. The average fatality rate stands at 0.84%.

The number of Omicron variant infections increased by 12, totaling 178 cases. All Omicron variant cases are imported from overseas.

By travel origin, six arrivals came from the United States, four from the United Kingdom, and one each from Ghana and Tanzania.

Accordingly, the total domestic cumulative infections, including the 166 variant cases confirmed until the previous day, rose to 178. By infection route, 54 cases were imported, and 124 were domestic infections.

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