COVID-19 New Cases 53,926... Over 50,000 for Two Consecutive Days

271 Critically Ill Patients and 49 Deaths
Stable Management Compared to Spread Trend

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki Ha-young] The number of new COVID-19 cases has exceeded 50,000 for two consecutive days. Amid the spread of the Omicron variant, the number of confirmed cases is doubling every week.

The Central Disease Control Headquarters announced that as of midnight on the 11th, there were 53,926 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the total cumulative number of confirmed cases to 1,239,287. Although the number of new cases decreased by 196 from the previous day (54,122), it remained above 50,000 for the second consecutive day.

Due to the Omicron variant's widespread outbreak, a doubling phenomenon is occurring where the number of confirmed cases doubles every week. The number of new cases on this day was about twice that of a week ago on the 4th (27,438 cases) and about 3.4 times that of two weeks ago on the 28th of last month (16,093 cases).

By region, Gyeonggi reported 17,925 cases, Seoul 11,528 cases, and Incheon 3,740 cases, totaling 33,193 cases (61.7%) in the metropolitan area alone. Non-metropolitan areas reported 3,007 cases in Busan, 2,497 in Daegu, 2,186 in Gyeongnam, 1,924 in Gyeongbuk, 1,585 in Chungnam, 1,504 in Jeonbuk, 1,422 in Daejeon, 1,405 in Gwangju, 1,156 in Chungbuk, 1,234 in Jeonnam, 1,083 in Gangwon, 795 in Ulsan, 474 in Jeju, and 332 in Sejong, totaling 20,604 cases (38.3%).

So far, the number of severe and critical patients is being managed stably compared to the spread of the outbreak. As of midnight on this day, there were 271 severe and critical patients, 11 fewer than the previous day (282), maintaining the 200s for two consecutive weeks. However, the number of deaths increased by 29 from the previous day to 49. The cumulative death toll stands at 7,012, with a cumulative fatality rate of 0.57%. Health authorities anticipate that severe and fatal cases may increase after next month as the preventive effect decreases among the elderly population who received the third vaccination relatively early.

On the other hand, asymptomatic and mild cases are rapidly increasing. As of midnight on this day, the number of patients under home treatment was 177,014, an increase of 2,837 from the previous day (174,177), which was the first day of the transition to the home treatment system.

With the rapid surge in new cases, there are forecasts that the number of confirmed cases could exceed 300,000 in early next month. The National Institute for Mathematical Sciences predicts that the daily number of confirmed cases could reach up to 360,000 in early next month.

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