On Election Day at 6 PM, 260,615 Confirmed Cases Nationwide... Second Highest Based on Interim Tally

Second Highest as of 6 PM Midday Tally

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] As of 6 p.m. on the 9th, the day of the 20th presidential election, more than 260,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported nationwide. This is the second highest number based on the interim tally at 6 p.m.

According to Seoul Metropolitan Government and other local governments, from midnight to 6 p.m. on the same day, 260,615 people across 17 cities and provinces nationwide were confirmed positive for COVID-19. This is 2,908 fewer than the previous day’s tally at the same time (263,523), which was the highest number recorded, but overall it is the second largest scale. Compared to one week ago, it is 1.7 times higher, and compared to two weeks ago, it is 1.9 times higher.

By region, 148,088 cases (56.8%) were reported in the metropolitan area, and 112,527 cases (43.2%) in non-metropolitan areas. The breakdown is as follows: ▲Gyeonggi 69,540 ▲Seoul 62,988 ▲Busan 21,605 ▲Incheon 15,560 ▲Gyeongnam 14,370 ▲Gyeongbuk 11,384 ▲Daegu 9,998 ▲Ulsan 8,805 ▲Gangwon 7,897 ▲Daejeon 7,855 ▲Jeonnam 5,936 ▲Gwangju 5,845 ▲Chungbuk 5,391 ▲Jeonbuk 4,895 ▲Jeju 4,032 ▲Chungnam 2,767 ▲Sejong 1,747.

Since there is still time left until midnight when the tally closes, the number of new confirmed cases to be announced on the 10th is expected to be much higher than this. The record for the highest number of new confirmed cases is 342,446, announced based on the count at midnight on the same day.

Since the Omicron variant became the dominant strain in Korea, new confirmed cases have continued to increase. The daily new confirmed cases over the past week from the 3rd are as follows: 198,800 → 266,847 → 254,321 → 243,622 → 210,714 → 202,720 → 342,446, averaging 245,639 cases per day.

Experts believe that the domestic COVID-19 outbreak has entered the 'peak phase' and expect that after 1 to 2 weeks of daily new confirmed cases around 300,000, the trend will turn downward.

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