24,443 New COVID-19 Cases 'Record High' ... 4,500 Increase in One Day (Update)

257 Critical Cases and 24 Deaths

On the 28th of last month, one day before the Lunar New Year holiday, people were lining up for COVID-19 testing at the COVID-19 screening clinic at Gangseo-gu Public Health Center in Seoul. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] As the COVID-19 Omicron variant rapidly spreads, the number of new confirmed cases has surpassed 27,000. It surged by more than 4,500 in just one day, setting a new record high once again.

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters on the 4th, as of midnight, the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases increased by 27,443 from the previous day, totaling 934,656 cases.

The number of new confirmed cases first exceeded 10,000 on the 26th of last month (13,009 cases), then rose to over 20,000 on the 2nd (20,269 cases) just a week later, and has continued to set daily records, approaching 30,000 in only three days.

The increase in confirmed cases has also expanded. While the number of new cases had been rising by about 1,000 to 2,000 daily over the past week, it jumped by 4,536 in just one day on the 3rd. This is attributed to increased nationwide movement during the Lunar New Year holiday period and a rise in the number of COVID-19 tests conducted, leading to a larger scale increase in confirmed cases.

However, the sharp rise in confirmed cases has not yet led to an increase in critically ill patients or deaths. As of midnight, the number of critically ill patients was 257, down by 17 from the previous day, maintaining the 200s for a consecutive week. Deaths increased by 24, bringing the total to 6,836.

Regarding the infection routes of new confirmed cases, 27,283 were locally transmitted, and 160 were imported cases.

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