"Confirmed Cases Surpass 90,000, but Omicron Peak Remains 'Unpredictable'"

33,268 New Cases in One Day
Severe and Critical Patients Remain in 300s for Three Days
Controversy Over Social Distancing Easing on the 18th Heats Up

The daily number of new COVID-19 cases surged past 90,000 due to the spread of the Omicron variant. Although the number of Omicron cases is increasing uncontrollably, health authorities and experts say the peak has not yet been reached. On the 18th, some social distancing measures are expected to be eased starting next week.

As of midnight on the 16th, the Central Disease Control Headquarters reported 90,443 new COVID-19 cases nationwide, bringing the total to 1,552,851. The number of new cases increased by 33,268 in one day from 57,175 the previous day.

The daily new cases first surpassed 10,000 on the 26th of last month, then exceeded 20,000 on the 2nd of this month, 30,000 on the 5th, 40,000 on the 9th, and have remained in the 50,000 range for six consecutive days starting from the 10th, before jumping directly to the 90,000 range in one day.

In particular, the number of cases doubled weekly, following a 'doubling' trend: from 20,269 cases on the 2nd, to 49,569 on the 9th, and now into the 90,000 range. The government, synthesizing expert forecasts, expects daily cases to reach between 130,000 and 170,000 by the end of this month, while the Institute of Mathematical Sciences projects a peak of up to 360,000 in early next month.

The cumulative number of confirmed cases surpassed 500,000 on December 10th last year, about 1 year and 10 months after the first case, then exceeded 1 million on the 6th of this month, about two months later, and has now reached the 1.5 million range just ten days after that.

On the 16th, when 90,443 new COVID-19 cases were reported, citizens who visited the screening clinic set up at Songpa-gu Public Health Center in Seoul were waiting to get tested. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

The number of critically ill patients hospitalized was 313 on this day, similar to the previous day’s 314. The number of critically ill patients, which had been in the 200s since the end of last month, increased to 306 on the 14th and has remained in the 300s for three consecutive days. The nationwide COVID-19 severe bed occupancy rate rose by 0.2 percentage points from 26.8% the previous day to 27.0% (716 out of 2,655 beds in use). There were 39 deaths, bringing the total death toll to 7,202, with a cumulative fatality rate of 0.46%. The number of patients under home treatment increased by 21,000 from 245,940 the previous day to 266,040.

The government plans to announce adjustments to social distancing measures on the 18th, considering the overall epidemic situation including the total number of confirmed cases, critically ill patients, and deaths.

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters meeting on the same day, "We will decide on (social distancing adjustments) by considering the accumulated economic damage from over two months of strengthened quarantine measures and the still uncertain peak of the Omicron spread." He added, "Our goal is to reduce the impact of Omicron’s wave to minimize economic and social damage, and we will gather various opinions to make a final decision at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters meeting on Friday."

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