COVID-19, 243,628 New Cases... '885 Critically Ill Patients' (Comprehensive)

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] The Central Disease Control Headquarters announced that as of midnight on the 6th, the number of new confirmed COVID-19 cases increased by 243,628, bringing the cumulative total to 4,456,264.

The number of new confirmed cases decreased by 10,699 compared to the previous day’s 254,327. It is 23,222 fewer than the record high of 266,850 cases on the 4th (initially reported as 266,853 but later corrected). This represents a 1.5-fold increase compared to 163,561 cases a week ago on the 27th of last month, and a 2.3-fold increase compared to 104,825 cases two weeks ago on the 20th of last month.

The health authorities, synthesizing predictions from various research institutions, foresee that daily COVID-19 cases could reach up to 350,000 in mid-month.

There was a prevailing forecast that new cases on the 9th would exceed 230,000. However, cases have already surpassed 230,000 for three consecutive days.

With the rapid spread of the outbreak, the cumulative number of confirmed cases has risen into the 4 million range since the previous day. At the current trend, it is expected to exceed 5 million within 2 to 3 days.

As confirmed cases surge, deaths and critically ill patients are also increasing rapidly. The number of deaths yesterday was 161, which is 50 fewer than the previous day’s record high of 216. However, it is still the third highest number of deaths recorded.

The cumulative death toll stands at 8,957, with a cumulative fatality rate of 0.20%.

Regarding the age distribution of the deceased, 107 were aged 80 and above, 31 in their 70s, 14 in their 60s, and 7 in their 50s. There was also one death each in the 20s and 30s age groups.

The number of critically ill patients is 885, which is 11 fewer than the previous day’s 896. However, it has remained in the high 800s for two consecutive days.

Most critically ill patients are elderly, with 303 aged 80 and above, 234 in their 70s, and 200 in their 60s. However, there are also younger patients, including 6 under 10 years old and 2 teenagers.

As the number of critically ill patients increases, the utilization rate of COVID-19 severe care beds is also rising.

As of midnight, the utilization rate of severe care beds was 56.4% (1,550 out of 2,747 beds in use), up 2.9 percentage points from the previous day’s 53.5%. The utilization rate in the metropolitan area was 52.8%, while it was higher in non-metropolitan areas at 65.1%.

The utilization rate of semi-severe care beds, which treat patients whose condition may improve from severe or worsen to severe, was 61.4%, up 2.9% from the previous day’s 58.5%.

As of midnight, the number of patients receiving home treatment was 1,120,050, an increase of 94,077 from the previous day (1,025,973), marking the first time it has exceeded 1 million.

Among those under home treatment, 172,831 are in the intensive management group, including those aged 60 and above who receive health monitoring from designated medical institutions. The rest are in the general management group, managing their health independently at home.

Regarding the infection routes of new confirmed cases, 243,540 were locally transmitted, and 88 were imported cases.

Among locally transmitted cases, 66,833 were in Gyeonggi, 49,449 in Seoul, and 14,854 in Incheon, totaling 131,136 cases (53.8%) in the metropolitan area alone.

In non-metropolitan areas, there were 26,204 in Busan, 14,417 in Gyeongnam, 8,896 in Daegu, 8,191 in Gyeongbuk, 7,285 in Chungnam, 6,840 in Jeonbuk, 5,704 in Jeonnam, 6,656 in Gwangju, 6,230 in Chungbuk, 6,189 in Daejeon, 5,702 in Gangwon, 5,015 in Ulsan, 3,691 in Jeju, and 1,384 in Sejong, totaling 112,404 cases (46.2%).

Combining local transmission and imported cases (excluding quarantine), the new confirmed cases were 66,837 in Gyeonggi, 49,450 in Seoul, 26,205 in Busan, and 14,859 in Incheon, among others.

On the previous day, a total of 527,509 tests were conducted at screening clinics and temporary testing sites. The test positivity rate was 43.6%.

The vaccination completion rate (percentage of those who completed the basic vaccination) as of midnight was 86.5% (a cumulative total of 44,394,032 people). The third dose vaccination rate was 62.0% of the total population (a cumulative total of 31,800,986 people).

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