COVID-19 Severe Cases at 1,105, Highest Recorded... New Confirmed Cases in the 5,000s (Update)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] On the 8th day of the implementation of social distancing measures, the number of critically ill COVID-19 patients in South Korea surpassed the record high of 1,100. The number of new confirmed cases was recorded at 5,842, showing a decrease of about 1,400 compared to a week ago.

On the 25th, the Central Disease Control Headquarters announced that as of midnight, the number of new confirmed cases was 5,842, bringing the total confirmed cases to 602,045. The number of new cases decreased by 391 from the previous day (6,233) and by 1,469 compared to 7 days ago on the 18th, when there were 7,311 cases. With the acceleration of the third dose vaccination mainly among the elderly, and the reduction of contacts and gatherings through special quarantine measures and strengthened social distancing, the COVID-19 outbreak appears to have entered a plateau phase.

However, the indicators for critically ill patients and deaths have not improved. On this day, the number of critically ill patients was 1,105, an increase of 21 from the previous day’s 1,084, setting a new record high. The number of critically ill patients has been over 1,000 for five consecutive days and has set new record highs daily for four consecutive days since the 22nd.

There were also 105 deaths reported, bringing the total death toll to 5,176. This is the second day with over 100 deaths in a single day; on the 23rd, there were 109 deaths. The number of Omicron variant infections increased by 81, totaling 343 cases.

Regarding the infection routes of the new confirmed cases on this day, 5,767 were locally transmitted and 75 were imported cases. Among the locally transmitted cases, Seoul reported 2,091, Gyeonggi 1,663, and Incheon 398, totaling 4,152 cases (72.0%) in the metropolitan area. In non-metropolitan areas, there were 340 in Busan, 212 in Gyeongnam, 147 in Gangwon, 161 in Chungnam, 127 in Gyeongbuk, 114 in Jeonbuk, 102 each in Daegu and Daejeon, 83 in Chungbuk, 76 in Gwangju, 62 in Ulsan, 53 in Jeonnam, 21 in Sejong, and 15 in Jeju, totaling 1,615 cases (28.0%). The number of imported cases was 75, which is 5 more than the previous day (70).

The number of suspected cases tested at screening clinics the previous day was 65,662, and the number of tests conducted at temporary screening clinics was 195,207, totaling 260,869 tests.

Meanwhile, the COVID-19 vaccination completion rate in South Korea as of midnight was 82.4% (a cumulative total of 42,307,415 people), and the third dose vaccination rate was 29.4% of the total population (15,114,773 people).

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