186,169 Confirmed Cases by 9 PM... 18,791 Fewer Than Yesterday

Around 200,000 Expected Tomorrow... 108,837 in the Seoul Metropolitan Area
50,948 in Gyeonggi, 43,724 in Seoul, 14,165 in Incheon, etc.

On the 1st, citizens who visited the temporary screening clinic set up at Seoul Station Plaza are waiting to get tested. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] As the Omicron variant spreads, more than 180,000 COVID-19 cases were reported nationwide by 9 PM on the 2nd.

According to Seoul Metropolitan Government and other local governments, from midnight to 9 PM on the same day, 186,169 people were confirmed positive for COVID-19 across 17 cities and provinces nationwide. This is 18,791 fewer than the previous day's highest count of 204,960 during the same time frame. This decrease appears to be due to fewer diagnostic tests conducted on the previous day, which was Samiljeol (Independence Movement Day).

The 9 PM count on this day is 24,787 more than the count a week ago on the 23rd of last month (161,382), and 2.1 times the count two weeks ago on the 16th of last month (90,228).

Since there is still time until midnight when the count closes, the newly confirmed cases to be announced on the 3rd are expected to increase further, reaching around 200,000.

As of 9 PM on this day, 108,837 new cases (58.5%) were reported in the metropolitan area, and 77,332 new cases (41.5%) were reported in non-metropolitan areas.

By city and province, the numbers are: Gyeonggi 50,948, Seoul 43,724, Incheon 14,165, Busan 11,010, Gyeongnam 9,054, Daegu 6,660, Gyeongbuk 6,534, Gwangju 6,460, Chungnam 6,200, Jeonbuk 5,291, Jeonnam 5,245, Daejeon 5,067, Chungbuk 4,832, Gangwon 4,307, Ulsan 3,390, Jeju 2,317, and Sejong 965.

Since the Omicron variant became the dominant strain in Korea, new confirmed cases have surged. Over the week starting from the 24th of last month, the daily new confirmed cases were 170,007 → 165,889 → 166,201 → 163,562 → 139,626 → 138,993 → 219,241, averaging 166,217 cases per day.

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