19,907 New COVID-19 Cases... Record High Above 20,000 for Two Consecutive Days

Positive Test Rate Hits Record High of 10.9%
Confirmed Cases Expected to Surge if Testing Increases After Seollal Holiday Decline

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki Ha-young] The number of new daily COVID-19 cases has surpassed 20,000, setting a new record for consecutive days. It nearly doubled within a week since first entering the 10,000 range on the 26th of last month.

The Central Disease Control Headquarters announced that as of midnight on the 3rd, the number of new confirmed cases increased by 22,907 from the previous day, bringing the cumulative total to 907,214. This is the first time the cumulative number of confirmed cases has exceeded 900,000. The number of new cases rose by 2,637 from 20,270 the day before, breaking the 20,000 mark for two consecutive days.

However, this has not yet led to an increase in deaths or critically ill patients. The number of critically ill patients on this day was 274, down by 4 from the previous day. Deaths increased by 25, bringing the total to 6,812. The cumulative fatality rate stands at 0.75%.

Regarding the infection routes of new confirmed cases, 22,773 were locally transmitted. Among local cases, Gyeonggi reported 6,532, Seoul 5,191, and Incheon 1,533, with the metropolitan area accounting for 13,256 cases (58.2%). In non-metropolitan areas, Busan had 1,273, Daegu 1,253, Jeonbuk 944, Gyeongbuk 929, Chungnam 908, Gyeongnam 902, Gwangju 691, Chungbuk 568, Daejeon 555, Gangwon 467, Jeonnam 452, Ulsan 270, Jeju 168, and Sejong 137, totaling 9,517 cases (41.8%). Seoul’s local cases exceeded 5,000 for the first time since the domestic COVID-19 outbreak, and non-metropolitan local cases steadily increased, reaching the 9,000 range for the first time. The number of imported cases was 134.

On the previous day, the number of tests conducted at screening clinics was 79,765, and tests at temporary screening centers totaled 190,100, making a total of 269,865 tests conducted. The test positivity rate as of midnight on this day was 10.9%, higher than the previous record of 9.4% on the 1st. This means that 1 out of every 10 people tested was confirmed positive.

The COVID-19 vaccination completion rate as of midnight on this day was 85.7%, with a cumulative total of 43,997,129 people vaccinated. The third dose vaccination rate reached 53.1% of the total population (cumulative 27,267,684 people).

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