COVID-19 New Cases 266,853 and Deaths 186... All 'Record Highs'

On the 4th, the number of new COVID-19 cases surged by about 70,000 in one day to 266,853. Citizens are lining up in long queues at the temporary screening clinic at Seoul Station to get tested. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] The daily number of new COVID-19 cases has surpassed 260,000, and the death toll has reached 186, as the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic intensifies day by day.

On the 4th, the Central Disease Control Headquarters announced that as of midnight, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases increased by 266,853 to a total of 3,958,326. Due to the impact of the Samiljeol holiday on the 1st, the daily new cases seemed to have dropped back to the 200,000 range the previous day, but they increased again by about 68,000 in just one day. Compared to the same day of the previous week, the number surged by 100,964.

The number of deaths due to COVID-19 also reached a record high of 186. However, as confirmed cases rapidly increased, the cumulative fatality rate dropped by 0.1 percentage points from the previous day to 0.22%. The number of critically ill patients currently hospitalized also showed a continuous upward trend at 797. As of 5 p.m. the previous day, the utilization rate of severe COVID-19 beds nationwide was 50.5%, and 46.2% in the metropolitan area, meaning about half of the beds are occupied.

The number of patients under home treatment also increased to 925,662, of which 143,288 are in the intensive management group. On the previous day, 232,632 people were newly classified as home treatment patients.

The infection routes of new confirmed cases include 266,771 local transmissions. In the metropolitan area, Seoul reported 59,269 cases, Gyeonggi 76,722, and Incheon 16,681, totaling 152,672 cases (57.2%). Non-metropolitan cases were ▲Busan 23,200 ▲Daegu 9,491 ▲Gwangju 6,768 ▲Daejeon 5,958 ▲Ulsan 5,813 ▲Sejong 1,577 ▲Gangwon 5,584 ▲Chungbuk 6,737 ▲Chungnam 8,263 ▲Jeonbuk 6,536 ▲Jeonnam 6,409 ▲Gyeongbuk 8,373 ▲Gyeongnam 15,991 ▲Jeju 3,399, totaling 114,099 cases (42.8%). Imported cases numbered 82.

The total number of tests conducted at screening clinics on the previous day was 589,163. As of midnight, the test positivity rate was 46.4%. This means that about one in two people tested at screening clinics is confirmed positive for COVID-19.

Meanwhile, the domestic COVID-19 vaccination completion rate stood at 87.4% (a cumulative total of 44,866,070 people) as of midnight. The third dose vaccination rate reached 61.7% of the total population (a cumulative total of 31,642,215 people).

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