COVID-19 New Cases 3,097... Growing Omicron Concerns Amid Surge in Imported Infections

Overseas Inflow 284 People... Highest Daily Count Excluding Confirmed Cases from Cheonghae Unit

On the 9th, overseas arrivals were moving through the arrival hall of Terminal 1 at Incheon International Airport. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] Although the number of new COVID-19 cases and critically ill patients continues to decline daily, the number of imported cases is steadily increasing, raising concerns about the spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant.

On the 11th, the Central Disease Control Headquarters (CDCH) announced that as of midnight, 3,097 new domestic COVID-19 cases were confirmed, bringing the total cumulative cases to 670,483.

By infection route, 2,813 cases were locally transmitted, and 284 were imported. The weekly average of locally transmitted cases was 3,387, continuing a decline for 24 consecutive days. In contrast, imported cases have been increasing daily. The 248 cases recorded on this day are the highest number of imported cases, excluding the 309 cases confirmed among the Cheonghae Unit soldiers returning on July 22 last year.

Among locally transmitted cases, Seoul reported 670, Gyeonggi 1,055, and Incheon 140, totaling 1,865 cases (66.3%) in the metropolitan area. Non-metropolitan areas reported a total of 948 cases: 108 in Busan, 66 in Daegu, 175 in Gwangju, 34 in Daejeon, 17 in Ulsan, 15 in Sejong, 85 in Gangwon, 53 in Chungbuk, 98 in Chungnam, 55 in Jeonbuk, 87 in Jeonnam, 58 in Gyeongbuk, 84 in Gyeongnam, and 13 in Jeju.

The number of critically ill COVID-19 patients was recorded at 780. This number has been decreasing for 13 consecutive days since reaching a record high of 1,151 on the 29th of last month. The number of deaths increased by 43 on this day, bringing the total cumulative deaths to 6,114 (cumulative fatality rate 0.91%).

Meanwhile, 43,144,641 people have completed their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine domestically, with a vaccination rate of 84.1%. The third dose has been administered to 21,472,479 people, accounting for 41.8% of the total population.

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