"Omicron Wave Peak" ... Over 350,000 New Cases Today, Another Record High

As of 9 PM Yesterday, 344,712 Confirmed Cases Nationwide
Approximately 86,000 More Than Same Time Previous Day
Screening Clinic Test Positivity Rate Exceeds 62%

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] As the Omicron variant wave reaches its peak, the number of new COVID-19 cases has surpassed 350,000, setting a new record for the highest daily count.

On the 12th, according to Seoul City and other local governments, from midnight to 9 p.m. the previous day, a total of 344,712 people across 17 cities and provinces nationwide were confirmed positive for COVID-19.

Although this is an interim tally confirmed by 9 p.m., it exceeds the previous record of 342,438 cases announced at midnight on the 9th by 2,274 cases, already breaking the daily highest case record. When test results confirmed by midnight, when the tally closes, are added, the new cases announced at midnight on the 12th are expected to exceed 350,000 by a large margin.

The interim tally at 9 p.m. on this day is 86,173 more than the 258,539 cases at the same time the previous day. It is analyzed that the number of confirmed cases reached an all-time high because testing sharply decreased on the 9th, the day of the 20th presidential election, and then surged on the 10th.

The quarantine authorities announce the daily positivity rate by dividing the number of new confirmed cases by the total number of tests conducted at screening clinics the previous day. This rate exceeded 50% on the 7th and soared to 62.2% on the 11th. This means that more than 6 out of 10 people who underwent PCR testing were confirmed positive. The positivity rate over the past week is 48.9%.

Considering that the total number of tests at screening clinics on the 10th (announced on the 11th) was 744,401, similar to 748,778 on the 7th, the number of confirmed cases announced on the 12th could be over 360,000 (applying a positivity rate of 48.9%) and could reach up to 460,000 (applying a positivity rate of 62.2%).

The government has predicted that the Omicron wave will peak next week, with the weekly average daily confirmed cases ranging between 295,000 and 372,000. Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum, who presided over the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters meeting on the 11th, said, "Omicron will reach its peak within about ten days," adding, "The scale will be up to 370,000 cases per day on a weekly average basis."

Since the Omicron variant became dominant in Korea, new confirmed cases have been rapidly increasing. The average daily new cases over the recent week (March 5?11) were 266,335, which is 1.44 times the average daily cases (184,749) of the previous week (February 26?March 4) and 2.05 times the average daily cases (129,900) two weeks ago (February 19?25). The average daily deaths over the recent week were 185, which is 1.62 times the previous week's average (114) and 2.61 times the average two weeks ago (71).

Notably, the number of COVID-19 deaths announced on the 11th was 229, the highest since the outbreak began in Korea. The cumulative death toll reached 9,875 by that day, and it is highly likely to surpass 10,000 on the 12th. The number of critically ill patients hospitalized exceeded 1,000 on the 8th and stood at 1,116 as of the 11th, while the number of patients under home treatment exceeded 1.3 million (1,318,051).

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