Seoul New Cases Stay in 4,000s for 4 Consecutive Days... Positivity Rate Rises Above 5%

On the 28th, one day before the Lunar New Year holiday, a notice about holiday operating hours was installed at the COVID-19 screening clinic of Gangseo-gu Public Health Center in Seoul. Photo by Mo Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Due to the spread of the COVID-19 variant virus Omicron, the number of new confirmed cases in Seoul has remained in the 4,000 range for the fourth consecutive day. The positivity rate (the ratio of confirmed cases to the number of tests conducted the previous day) exceeded 5% for the first time.

On the 1st, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that the number of new COVID-19 confirmed cases in Seoul for the previous day was 4,131.

This is 62 fewer than the 4,193 cases on the 30th, but it is 2.4 times higher compared to 1,723 cases a week earlier (the 24th).

The daily number of confirmed cases in Seoul set a record high of 3,165 on the 14th of last month, then dropped to the 700s before starting to rise again from the 18th of this month (1,230 cases). On the 25th, it surged to the 3,000 range, and for the first time on the 28th (4,199 cases), it exceeded 4,000. Since then, it has remained in the 4,000 range for four consecutive days until the 31st.

The number of tests conducted per day decreased from 150,422 on the 28th to 95,592 on the first day of the Lunar New Year holiday, the 29th, and further down to 75,154 on the 30th, but increased again to 80,668 on the 31st.

The positivity rate surged from 2.8% on the 29th to 4.4% on the 30th, and then soared to 5.5% on the 31st. This is twice the average positivity rate (2.8%) over the past two weeks.

Among the new confirmed cases, 4,103 were domestic transmissions, and 28 were imported cases.

By age group, the proportion of confirmed cases was highest among those in their 20s (23.6%), followed by teenagers (17.2%), 30s (16.0%), 40s (15.9%), and children aged 9 and under (10.1%). The positivity rate relative to the population of Seoul was highest among teenagers at 0.092%, followed by children aged 9 and under at 0.069%.

At a nursing hospital in Yangcheon-gu, a cluster infection resulted in a total of 11 confirmed cases as of the previous day. Since one patient was first confirmed positive on the 30th of last month, seven patients and three caregivers have additionally tested positive.

Related to the Dongbu Detention Center in Songpa-gu, 18 new cases were added the previous day, bringing the cumulative total to 81. At a restaurant in Nowon-gu, seven more people tested positive, increasing the cumulative confirmed cases to 46.

As of midnight on the day, the cumulative number of confirmed cases in Seoul was 281,456, with 64,229 patients in isolation. Two additional deaths were reported the previous day, bringing the total number of deaths to 2,182.

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