Over 100,000 New Cases for Three Consecutive Days... 439 Critically Ill and 450,000 Under Home Treatment

Confirmed Cases Aged 60 and Over in the Third Week of February
Daily Average 9,199, Up 70.9% from the Previous Week

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki Ha-young] As the Omicron variant spreads, the daily number of COVID-19 confirmed cases has remained in the 100,000 range for three consecutive days, and the number of critically ill patients has also risen to the 400s.

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters, as of midnight on the 20th, the number of new confirmed cases was 104,829, marking three consecutive days in the 100,000 range.

As new confirmed cases increase, the number of critically ill patients is also on the rise. On this day, the number of critically ill patients was 439, maintaining the 400s for the second consecutive day following yesterday's 408. The weekly average number of critically ill patients was 272 in the first week of February, increased to 275 in the second week (6th?12th), and reached 343 last week (13th?19th).

The utilization rate of severe care beds also rose to 27.3% last week, up 8.6 percentage points from 18.7% in the previous week.

In particular, the increase in confirmed cases among the elderly aged 60 and over, as well as cluster infections in high-risk facilities such as nursing hospitals and care facilities, is raising concerns about the rise in critically ill patients. Last week, the daily average number of confirmed cases among those aged 60 and over was 9,199, a 70.9% increase from 5,382 in the previous week. The proportion of those aged 60 and over among all confirmed cases slightly decreased from 11.7% to 11.4%.

The increase in confirmed cases among high-risk groups also leads to an increase in deaths. The number of deaths was 146 in the first week of February, rose to 187 in the second week, and surged by 63% to 309 last week.

The number of asymptomatic and mild patients receiving home treatment is also increasing. Similar to the number of new confirmed cases, the number of home treatment patients is showing a 'doubling' phenomenon on a weekly basis. As of the 20th, the number of home treatment patients was 450,493, more than double the 214,869 recorded a week earlier on the 13th. Since the 10th, the government has been implementing home treatment by dividing patients into intensive management groups and general management groups. High-risk groups with a high risk of severe illness, such as those aged 60 and over, undergo health monitoring twice a day, while the general management group must manage their health status on their own.

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