170,608 New COVID-19 Cases by 6 PM... 1,549 More Than Yesterday

On the 7th, as 207,716 new COVID-19 cases were reported, maintaining the daily count above 200,000, citizens visiting the temporary screening clinic set up at Seoul Station Plaza were waiting to get tested. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] As the Omicron variant continues to spread, the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases exceeded 170,000 by 6 p.m. on the 7th.

According to Seoul and other local governments, from midnight to 6 p.m. on this day, 176,086 people nationwide in 17 cities and provinces were confirmed positive for COVID-19. This is 1,549 more than the 174,537 cases recorded during the same time frame the previous day. Compared to the count at the same time one week ago on the 28th of last month (118,000 cases), it increased by 1.5 times, and compared to two weeks ago on the 21st of last month (86,372 cases), it doubled. Since there is still time until midnight when the count closes, the number of new confirmed cases announced on the 8th is expected to increase further.

As of 6 p.m. on this day, new confirmed cases were 88,434 (50.2%) in the metropolitan area and 87,652 (49.8%) in non-metropolitan areas. By city and province, the numbers are: Gyeonggi 43,982, Seoul 33,703, Busan 17,050, Gyeongnam 10,841, Incheon 10,749, Gyeongbuk 7,267, Chungnam 6,794, Daegu 6,401, Gwangju 6,331, Daejeon 5,608, Jeonnam 5,125, Gangwon 4,918, Ulsan 4,560, Jeonbuk 4,417, Chungbuk 4,411, Jeju 2,643, and Sejong 1,286.

Since the Omicron variant became the dominant strain domestically, new confirmed cases have been rapidly increasing. According to health authorities, as of the 5th, the detection rate of the Omicron variant among domestic infection cases reached nearly 100% (99.96%). The daily new confirmed cases for the week starting from the 1st were 138,990 → 219,228 → 198,800 → 266,849 → 254,327 → 243,626 → 210,716, averaging 218,934 cases per day.

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