As of 6 PM, 85,609 New COVID-19 Cases Nationwide... 'Doubling' Phenomenon Continues (Update)

On the 18th, when the number of new COVID-19 cases exceeded 100,000 for the first time in history, citizens lined up to get tested at the screening clinic of Songpa-gu Public Health Center in Seoul. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Minji Lee] On the 18th, more than 85,000 new COVID-19 cases were reported by 6 p.m.

According to Seoul Metropolitan Government and other local governments, from midnight to 6 p.m. on that day, a total of 85,609 people across 17 cities and provinces nationwide were confirmed positive for COVID-19. This is 1,028 fewer than the previous record of 86,637 cases reported during the same time frame the day before.

However, compared to the count at the same time one week earlier on the 11th (42,938 cases), the number is about twice as high, and compared to two weeks earlier on the 4th (18,811 cases), it is more than four times higher. Since there is still time until midnight when the count is finalized, the number of new cases announced on the 19th is expected to increase further.

On that day, new cases were reported as 51,595 (60.3%) in the metropolitan area and 30,414 (39.3%) in non-metropolitan areas. By city and province, the numbers were: Gyeonggi 27,272, Seoul 18,670, Incheon 5,653, Busan 5,238, Gyeongnam 3,920, Daegu 3,878, Gyeongbuk 3,141, Chungnam 2,966, Daejeon 2,723, Gwangju 2,560, Chungbuk 2,000, Ulsan 1,832, Gangwon 1,598, Jeonnam 1,499, Jeonbuk 1,081, Jeju 950, and Sejong 628.

Since the Omicron variant became the dominant strain in South Korea, the scale of new infections has continued to increase. Over the week starting from the 12th, the daily new case counts were 54,938 → 56,430 → 54,615 → 57,169 → 90,441 → 93,134 → 109,831, averaging about 73,794 cases per day.

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