130,993 New COVID-19 Cases... 112 Deaths and 727 Critical Patients

On the 1st, when 138,993 new COVID-19 cases were reported, citizens who visited the temporary screening clinic set up at Seoul Station Plaza were waiting to get tested. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] The Central Disease Control Headquarters announced on the 1st that as of midnight, the number of new COVID-19 cases increased by 138,993, bringing the total to 3,273,449.

The number of new cases decreased by 633 compared to the previous day (139,626) but remained in the high 130,000s for the second consecutive day. Compared to a week ago on the 22nd (99,569), the number increased by 1.4 times, and compared to two weeks ago on the 15th (57,169), it increased by 2.4 times.

The number of critically ill patients rose by 12 from the previous day (715) to 727. As of midnight, the nationwide COVID-19 severe bed occupancy rate was 48.3% (1,324 out of 2,744 beds in use), up 0.1 percentage points from the previous day (48.2%). The occupancy rate in the metropolitan area is 44.4%, but in non-metropolitan areas, it is already over half at 57.4%. The occupancy rate for semi-critical beds, which treat patients whose condition is either improving from critical or worsening to critical, is 63.1%.

The scale of new cases is expected to increase again from the 2nd as the weekend and holiday testing reduction effects disappear and weekday testing numbers are reflected. The health authorities, synthesizing projections from various research institutions, analyzed that more than 230,000 cases will occur on the 9th, and the outbreak will peak in the range of 180,000 to 350,000 cases in early to mid-month. The number of critically ill patients is expected to exceed 1,200 and increase to between 1,700 and 2,750 by mid to late this month.

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