As of 6 PM, 17,196 COVID-19 cases nationwide... 3,580 more than yesterday (Comprehensive)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hyowon] Due to the spread of the Omicron variant, the highest number of COVID-19 cases ever recorded nationwide was reported as of 6 PM.

According to the quarantine authorities, Seoul city, and other local governments, from midnight to 6 PM on this day, a total of 17,196 confirmed COVID-19 cases tested positive across 17 cities and provinces nationwide. This is an increase of 3,580 cases compared to the previous record of 13,616 cases at the same time the day before. It is the highest number ever recorded for this time frame.

The upward trend continued even during the Lunar New Year holiday from the 29th of last month to the day before, and starting today, when the holiday ended, the number of tests, which had slowed during the holiday, is expected to increase again, leading to a larger rise in confirmed cases.

The count as of 6 PM today is about 1.9 times the 9,094 cases reported at 6 PM one week ago on the 27th of last month. Compared to 4,499 cases at the same time two weeks ago on the 20th of last month, it has increased 3.8 times. The trend shows doubling approximately every week.

Since there is still time until midnight when the count is finalized, the number of new confirmed cases to be announced on the 4th is expected to be even higher.

Of the new confirmed cases today, 8,762 cases (51.0%) occurred in the metropolitan area, and 8,434 cases (49.0%) occurred in non-metropolitan areas.

By city and province, the cases are as follows: Gyeonggi 3,651, Seoul 3,626, Busan 1,777, Daegu 1,648, Incheon 1,485, Gyeongbuk 1,057, Chungnam 810, Gwangju 702, Daejeon 675, Gangwon 596, Jeonbuk 266, Sejong 247, Jeonnam 199, Chungbuk 170, Jeju 162, Gyeongnam 80, Ulsan 45.

Confirmed cases were reported in all 17 cities and provinces. Among these, in the Gyeongnam region, some local governments experienced system errors, resulting in the number of confirmed cases being recorded much lower than the actual count. As of 6 PM the day before, 167 confirmed cases were reported in Gyeongnam.

Due to the spread of Omicron, the daily number of new confirmed cases in South Korea is setting new records almost every day.

The daily new confirmed cases over the week starting from the 28th of last month were 16,094 → 17,512 → 17,528 → 17,078 → 18,342 → 20,269 → 22,907, averaging about 18,533 cases per day.

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