Confirmed Cases Remain in the 90,000s for Second Day... Severe and Critical Patients Near 400 (Comprehensive)

New COVID-19 Cases Increase by 2,692 to 93,135 ... 389 Critical Cases, 36 Deaths
Home Treatment Patients Surpass 300,000 ... Severe Bed Occupancy Rate at 28.5%

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 outbreak approaches its peak, the number of new daily confirmed cases has remained in the 90,000 range for two consecutive days.

The Central Disease Control Headquarters announced that as of midnight on the 17th, the number of new COVID-19 cases nationwide increased by 93,135, bringing the total to 1,645,978. The daily new confirmed cases rose from 57,175 on the 15th to 33,268 more on the 16th, and then increased again by 2,692 on this day, approaching 100,000.

In particular, compared to a week ago on the 10th (54,120 cases), the number increased by 1.7 times, and compared to two weeks ago on the 3rd (22,906 cases), it increased by 4.1 times, showing a 'doubling' phenomenon where cases double every week.

Previously, the number of new confirmed cases surpassed 10,000 for the first time on the 26th of last month, exceeded 20,000 on the 2nd of this month, reached the 30,000 range on the 5th, the 40,000 range on the 9th, and maintained the 50,000 range for six consecutive days from the 10th, before jumping directly to the 90,000 range the day before.

The number of critically ill patients hospitalized also surged by 76 in one day to 389, marking the highest level in 23 days since the 25th of last month (392). The number of critically ill patients, which had been maintained in the 200s until last week, rose to 306 on the 14th, 314 on the 15th, 313 on the 16th, and is now approaching 400.

The nationwide COVID-19 severe bed occupancy rate rose by 1.5 percentage points from 27.0% the previous day to 28.5% (758 out of 2,655 beds in use). Although the bed occupancy rate is still stable in the 20% range, the increase in critically ill patients indicates that it is not a situation to be complacent about.

The daily death toll is 36, with a cumulative death toll of 7,238. The cumulative fatality rate is 0.44%.

The number of patients under home treatment also exceeded 300,000 for the first time. As of midnight on this day, 314,565 people nationwide are receiving home treatment. The number of home treatment patients has increased nearly tenfold since it rose to the 30,000 range on the 25th of last month.

The government plans to finalize and announce adjustments to social distancing measures at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting on the 18th, after gathering opinions from various sectors at the daily life recovery support committee meeting held on this day.

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