New COVID-19 Cases Exceed 100,000 Again Today... Expected to Approach 200,000 by the End of This Month

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Nahum] Due to the spread of the Omicron variant, more than 100,000 new confirmed cases are expected to occur again on the 20th.

According to the quarantine authorities and local governments' data, from midnight to 9 p.m. on the 19th, the total number of new confirmed cases nationwide was 100,802. This is 3,979 more than the 96,823 cases reported during the same time on the previous day, and 99 more than the record high of 100,703 cases on the 17th.

Including additional confirmed cases counted until midnight, the number of new cases announced on that day is expected to increase further, reaching the mid-100,000s. This will mark three consecutive days with daily new cases in the 100,000 range.

The number of new confirmed cases surpassed 20,000 on the 2nd, then 30,000 on the 5th, 40,000 on the 9th, 50,000 on the 10th, 90,000 on the 16th, and exceeded 100,000 on the 18th.

From the 13th, the daily new confirmed cases for one week were 56,430 → 54,615 → 57,169 → 90,493 → 93,132 → 109,831 → 102,211, averaging 80,554 cases per day.

The number of new confirmed cases has been almost doubling every week, and if this trend continues, it is expected to approach 200,000 by the end of this month.

The government expects the COVID-19 outbreak to peak between the end of this month and early next month. It predicts 130,000 new cases on the 23rd of this month and 180,000 on the 2nd of next month.

Meanwhile, the government will apply the new social distancing measures until the 13th of next month. The closing time for restaurants, cafes, singing rooms, bathhouses, indoor sports facilities, and entertainment venues (including bars, karaoke bars, clubs, nightclubs, emotional pubs, hunting pubs, and colatecs/dance halls) has been extended by one hour to 10 p.m. However, the maximum number of private gathering participants remains at six, unchanged from before.

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