New Cases Reach 4,000s After 20 Days... Severe and Critical Patients Remain in 1,000s for a Week

On the 27th, as the morning temperature in Seoul dropped to minus 11 degrees Celsius, continuing the severe cold wave, citizens lined up to get tested at the COVID-19 screening clinic set up at Songpa-gu Public Health Center in Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The number of new COVID-19 cases in South Korea has fallen below 5,000 for the first time in 20 days. However, the number of critically ill patients has remained in the 1,000s for a consecutive week.

On the 27th, the Central Disease Control Headquarters announced that as of midnight, 4,207 new COVID-19 cases were reported. This is 1,212 fewer than the previous day’s 5,419 cases and 1,109 fewer than the 5,316 cases reported a week ago on the 20th. This trend appears to be influenced by an increase in third-dose COVID-19 vaccinations and strengthened quarantine measures implemented since the 6th.

The number of critically ill patients and deaths has not decreased. On this day, the number of critically ill patients was recorded at 1,078. Although this is 3 fewer than the previous day’s 1,081, the figure has remained above 1,000 for a consecutive week since the 21st (1,022 → 1,063 → 1,083 → 1,084 → 1,105 → 1,081 → 1,078). There were 55 deaths reported, bringing the cumulative death toll to 5,300. The cumulative fatality rate stands at 0.87%.

The decrease in new cases is expected to affect indicators such as critically ill patients and deaths with about a one-week lag, which authorities believe will impact workforce and hospital bed capacity starting this week.

The number of Omicron variant infections increased by 69, bringing the total to 445. Among these, 49 are domestic infections and 20 are imported cases.

Regarding the infection routes of new COVID-19 cases on this day, 4,125 were locally transmitted and 82 were imported. Among the local cases, Seoul reported 1,466, Gyeonggi 1,160, and Incheon 227, totaling 2,853 cases (69.2%) in the metropolitan area.

In non-metropolitan areas, there were 267 cases in Busan, 197 in Gyeongnam, 148 in Chungnam, 127 in Daegu, 119 in Gangwon, 88 in Jeonbuk, 70 in Gyeongbuk, 63 in Chungbuk, 59 in Gwangju, 40 in Ulsan, 38 in Daejeon, 30 in Jeonnam, 16 in Jeju, and 10 in Sejong, totaling 1,272 cases (30.8%). The number of imported cases was 82, which is 2 more than the previous day’s 80.

The daily new cases over the past week since the 21st were 5,194 → 7,455 → 6,917 → 6,233 → 5,842 → 5,419 → 4,207, averaging about 5,895 cases per day.

On the previous day, the number of tests conducted at screening clinics for suspected cases was 41,941, and tests at temporary screening centers totaled 85,799, making a total of 127,740 tests conducted.

Meanwhile, the COVID-19 vaccination completion rate in South Korea as of midnight on this day was 82.4% (a cumulative total of 42,314,421 people). The third-dose vaccination rate reached 29.6% of the total population, with 15,222,268 people having received the booster shot.

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