COVID-19 Severe Cases Over 800 for Two Consecutive Days... 3,717 New Confirmed Cases

The prolonged COVID-19 crisis has deepened the worries of small business owners and self-employed individuals. A closed store in Myeongdong, Seoul.
Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The number of critically ill COVID-19 patients in South Korea remained in the 800s for the second consecutive day.

On the 7th, the Central Disease Control Headquarters (CDCH) announced that as of midnight, 3,717 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed domestically, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 657,508. The number of new cases decreased by 409 compared to the previous day and dropped by 1,158 compared to a week ago on the 31st of last month.

On the same day, the number of critically ill COVID-19 patients was recorded at 839. After falling to the 800s for the first time in 24 days with 882 patients the day before, the downward trend continued. The health authorities attribute this to the continued decline in new cases and the increased rate of third-dose vaccinations. It is also understood to reflect the gradual spread of the Omicron variant, which is known to cause relatively less severe symptoms, within the country.

The number of deaths increased by 45 on the day, bringing the total death toll to 5,932 (cumulative fatality rate 0.9%). The daily death count decreased by 4 from 49 the previous day.

Regarding the infection routes, 3,529 cases were locally transmitted, and 188 were imported from overseas. Among the locally transmitted cases, Gyeonggi reported 1,224, Seoul 979, and Incheon 172, totaling 2,375 cases (67.3%) in the metropolitan area. Non-metropolitan areas reported a total of 1,154 cases (32.7%), including Busan 204, Jeonnam 120, Chungnam 108, Gyeongbuk 104, Gyeongnam 99, Daegu 95, Gangwon 88, Chungbuk 88, Gwangju 87, Jeonbuk 78, Ulsan 33, Daejeon 28, Sejong 14, and Jeju 8.

On the previous day, 96,665 tests were conducted at screening clinics for suspected cases, and 125,227 tests were performed at temporary screening centers, totaling 221,892 tests. The test positivity rate, calculated by dividing the number of new confirmed cases by the total number of tests conducted the previous day, was 1.7%.

Meanwhile, the domestic COVID-19 vaccination completion rate stood at 83.5% as of midnight on the day, with a cumulative total of 42,844,783 people vaccinated. The third-dose vaccination was completed by 20,054,929 people, accounting for 39.1% of the total population.

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