Daily COVID-19 Deaths Exceed 200... Over 1,000 Deaths in One Week

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] The damage from the COVID-19 Omicron variant pandemic is increasing, with daily deaths exceeding 200.

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters (CDCH) on the 6th, the number of COVID-19 deaths recorded the previous day was a record high of 216. Deaths refer to those who died during COVID-19 treatment or were confirmed positive postmortem. This is the first time daily deaths have reached the 200s since the first confirmed case in South Korea on January 20, 2020.

The COVID-19 deaths announced on this day were 161, down 55 from 216, but still the third highest ever recorded. The daily death toll over the past week (February 28 to March 5) was 114 → 112 → 96 → 128 → 186 → 216 → 161, totaling 1,013. This is about double the 539 deaths reported the previous week (February 21 to 27). The cumulative COVID-19 deaths in South Korea surpassed 1,000 on January 5 last year (1,007 deaths), nearly a year after the first confirmed case (January 20, 2020), but now the period for 1,000 deaths has shortened to just one week.

Deaths mainly occur among the elderly aged 70 and above, but due to the surge in confirmed cases since the third week of January, deaths are also occurring daily among young and middle-aged groups. Among the 216 deaths reported the previous day, 136 (63.0%) were aged 80 or older, followed by 44 (20.4%) in their 70s, and 21 (9.7%) in their 60s. However, 9 deaths (4.2%) occurred in their 50s, 4 in their 40s, and 1 each in their 30s and 20s. Among the 161 deaths announced on this day, there was also 1 person each in their 20s and 30s. Of the cumulative 8,957 deaths, 5 were aged 0?9, 1 in their teens, 21 in their 20s, and 56 in their 30s.

With more than 260,000 people confirmed infected daily, deaths are occurring even among young patients with underlying conditions. Death trends can also be predicted by the number of critically ill patients, which increased daily over the week: 715 → 727 → 762 → 766 → 797 → 896 → 885. Most critically ill patients are elderly, but currently 6 aged 0?9, 2 in their teens, 9 in their 20s, and 27 in their 30s are hospitalized in intensive care units.

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