COVID-19 New Cases 407,017... Over 400,000 for Three Consecutive Days

On the 17th, citizens are lining up for testing at the screening clinic of Songpa-gu Public Health Center in Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] As the daily new COVID-19 cases have exceeded 400,000 for three consecutive days, concerns are rising that the healthcare system's capacity is on the verge of collapse due to the spread of COVID-19, with some regions reporting intensive care unit (ICU) bed occupancy rates reaching 98%.

On the 18th, the Central Disease Control Headquarters announced that as of midnight, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases increased by 407,017 to a total of 8,657,609. Although this is about 210,000 fewer than the previous day’s figure of 621,328, which was delayed due to reporting lags, the number of confirmed cases has remained above 400,000 for three consecutive days, indicating a continued spread. Compared to the same day last week (282,976 cases), the number increased by 124,041.

The number of critically ill patients currently hospitalized is 1,049, which is 110 fewer than the previous day. However, since surpassing 1,000 on the 8th with 1,007 patients, the number has remained above 1,000 for 11 consecutive days.

As of midnight, the nationwide COVID-19 severe bed occupancy rate was 66.5%, and 63.5% in the metropolitan area, slightly higher than the previous day. In non-metropolitan areas, 606 out of 823 beds are occupied, raising the occupancy rate to 73.6%. Particularly, the bed occupancy rate in the Honam region, where the Omicron variant spread early on, has surged. In Gwangju, only 1 out of 54 ICU beds remains available, with the occupancy rate soaring to 98.1%. Jeonnam also has 19 out of 22 beds (86.4%) in use.

The number of deaths due to COVID-19 is 301. However, despite the rapid increase in confirmed cases, the cumulative fatality rate remains at about 0.14%.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The number of patients under home treatment has also surpassed 2 million. As of midnight, the number of home-treated patients reached 2,018,366, of whom 294,167 are in the intensive management group. On the previous day alone, 442,322 new patients were classified as home-treated, increasing the total number of home-treated patients by 92,607 compared to the day before.

The infection routes of new confirmed cases include 406,978 cases from local transmission. In the metropolitan area, Seoul reported 81,997 cases, Gyeonggi 113,673 cases, and Incheon 25,707 cases, totaling 186,966 cases (54.4%). Non-metropolitan confirmed cases include ▲Busan 25,504 ▲Daegu 16,013 ▲Gwangju 15,444 ▲Daejeon 11,332 ▲Ulsan 7,866 ▲Sejong 3,116 ▲Gangwon 11,401 ▲Chungbuk 12,170 ▲Chungnam 14,242 ▲Jeonbuk 10,888 ▲Jeonnam 11,363 ▲Gyeongbuk 18,029 ▲Gyeongnam 23,731 ▲Jeju 4,412, totaling 185,511 cases (45.6%). Imported cases number 39.

Meanwhile, the domestic COVID-19 vaccination completion rate recorded 87.5% (a cumulative total of 44,917,475 people) as of midnight. The third dose vaccination rate reached 62.8% of the total population (a cumulative total of 32,217,533 people).

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