New COVID-19 Cases Surpass 90,000... 33,000 Increase in One Day, Approaching 100,000 (Comprehensive)

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

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] As the Omicron variant spreads and the COVID-19 pandemic approaches its peak, the number of new daily confirmed cases has suddenly surpassed 90,000.

The Central Disease Control Headquarters announced on the 16th at midnight that the number of new nationwide COVID-19 confirmed cases increased by 90,443, bringing the total to 1,552,851.

The number of new confirmed cases surged by 33,268 in just one day from 57,175 the previous day, rapidly approaching 100,000.

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

In particular, the number of confirmed cases doubled weekly, showing a 'doubling' trend, increasing from 20,269 on the 2nd to 49,569 on the 9th, and now reaching the 90,000 range. The government, synthesizing experts' forecasts, expects daily cases to reach between 130,000 and 170,000 by the end of this month, while the Institute of Mathematical Sciences predicts a maximum of 360,000 in early next month. The current numbers are rapidly approaching these projections.

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

As of midnight today, the number of critically ill patients hospitalized was 313, maintaining a similar level to the previous day (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).

The number of deaths was 39, bringing the total deaths to 7,202, with a cumulative fatality rate of 0.46%.

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