973 Severe Cases, Below 1,000 for the First Time in 15 Days... 3,024 New Confirmed Cases

Citizens waiting to get tested for COVID-19 at a temporary screening clinic set up at Seoul City Hall Plaza on the 3rd./Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The number of severe and critical COVID-19 patients in South Korea has fallen below 1,000 for the first time in 15 days.

On the 4th, the Central Disease Control Headquarters (CDCH) announced that as of midnight, 3,024 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed, bringing the total cumulative cases to 645,226. The number of new cases decreased by 102 compared to the previous day and dropped by 841 compared to a week ago on the 28th of last month. Recording over 3,000 cases for three consecutive days is the first time in 35 days since November 28-30 last year.

The number of severe and critical patients also dropped to 973 on the same day, falling below 1,000 for the first time in 15 days. This is a decrease of 42 from 1,015 the previous day. The death toll increased by 51, bringing the total deaths to 5,781 (cumulative fatality rate 0.9%).

Regarding infection routes, 2,889 cases were locally transmitted, and 135 were imported from overseas. Among the locally transmitted cases, Seoul reported 903, Gyeonggi 916, and Incheon 162, totaling 1,981 cases (68.6%) in the metropolitan area. Non-metropolitan areas reported 908 cases (31.4%) including Busan 143, Gyeongnam 112, Chungnam 110, Jeonbuk 89, Daegu 79, Gangwon 62, Chungbuk 61, Gwangju and Gyeongbuk 59 each, Jeonnam 42, Ulsan 33, Daejeon 31, Jeju 17, and Sejong 11.

On the previous day, the number of suspected cases tested at screening clinics was 125,000, and tests conducted at temporary screening centers totaled 142,226, making a total of 267,226 tests performed. The test positivity rate, calculated by dividing the number of new confirmed cases by the total number of tests conducted the previous day, was 1.77%.

Meanwhile, the COVID-19 vaccination completion rate in South Korea as of midnight was 83.1% (a cumulative total of 42,621,496 people). The third dose vaccination rate reached 37.0% of the total population (18,965,833 people).

However, the vaccination rate for those aged 12 and above decreased by 0.3 percentage points to 90.5% compared to the previous day. This change is due to the update in the population denominator used in vaccination statistics, which shifted from the 2020 December population base to the 2023 December population base starting from this day. Vaccinations for adolescents born in 2010, who turned 12 this year, are available after their birthday.

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