COVID-19 New Cases 353,980... Approaching '10 Million Cumulative Cases'

On the 20th, citizens waiting for COVID-19 testing at a hospital designated as a respiratory specialist clinic in Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] As the daily new COVID-19 cases increased by about 350,000, the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases is approaching 10 million. This means that one in five citizens has been diagnosed with or experienced COVID-19.

On the 18th, the Central Disease Control Headquarters announced that as of midnight, the number of COVID-19 cases increased by 353,980 to 9,936,540. With projections that the cumulative cases will exceed 10 million on this day, compared to the domestic population (residents) of 51,306,264 as of last month according to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety's resident registration population status, about 20% of them have been confirmed with COVID-19.

However, the recent spread has somewhat slowed down. Although the number of confirmed cases increased by about 140,000 compared to the previous day, it slightly decreased compared to the same day last week (362,303 cases).

The number of critically ill patients hospitalized is 1,104, which is 26 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 15 consecutive days. As of midnight, the COVID-19 severe bed occupancy rate is 67.8% nationwide, 65.4% in the metropolitan area, and 73.5% in non-metropolitan areas, slightly down from the previous day.

The number of patients under home treatment has also decreased for two consecutive days. As of midnight, the number of home treatment patients is 1,821,962. Among them, the intensive care group is 274,562. Although 306,955 people were newly classified as home treatment patients the previous day, the number of those released from home treatment increased, resulting in a slight decrease in the total number of home treatment subjects.

The number of deaths due to COVID-19 is 384. However, as the number of confirmed cases rapidly increases, the cumulative fatality rate remains at about 0.13%.

The infection route of new confirmed cases is 353,934 local transmissions. In the metropolitan area, Seoul reported 65,033 cases, Gyeonggi 96,256 cases, and Incheon 17,568 cases, totaling 178,857 cases (50.5%). Non-metropolitan confirmed cases are ▲Busan 24,707 ▲Daegu 17,360 ▲Gwangju 6,985 ▲Daejeon 9,873 ▲Ulsan 8,224 ▲Sejong 3,334 ▲Gangwon 10,428 ▲Chungbuk 11,828 ▲Chungnam 15,152 ▲Jeonbuk 12,584 ▲Jeonnam 12,279 ▲Gyeongbuk 14,429 ▲Gyeongnam 24,703 ▲Jeju 3,191, totaling 175,077 cases (49.5%). Imported cases are 46.

Meanwhile, the domestic COVID-19 vaccination completion rate recorded 87.6% (a cumulative 44,931,582 people) as of midnight. The third dose vaccination rate reached 63.2% of the total population (a cumulative 32,419,209 people).

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