New COVID-19 Cases 395,598 ... 470 Deaths 'Highest Ever' (Update)

Severe and Critical Cases Exceed 1,000 for 17 Consecutive Days, Reaching 1,081

On the 17th, medical staff are caring for COVID-19 patients at Seoul Metropolitan Seobuk Hospital in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency's Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, as of midnight that day, the number of new COVID-19 cases reached 621,328, entering the 600,000 range for the first time. The number of critically ill patients was 1,159, down 85 from the previous day (1,244). The number of deaths was 429, marking the first time it reached the 400 range. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] While about 400,000 new COVID-19 cases were reported in a single day, the number of deaths reached 470, marking the highest ever recorded.

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters on the 24th, as of midnight, the number of new COVID-19 cases increased by 395,598 from the previous day, bringing the total cumulative cases to 10,822,836.

The scale of new cases decreased by more than 220,000 compared to a week ago and by more than 90,000 compared to the previous day. The daily new cases peaked at 621,205 on the 17th, then decreased to 406,896 on the 18th, 381,421 on the 19th, 334,665 on the 20th, and 209,145 on the 21st. After that, the numbers rose again to 353,968 on the 22nd and 490,881 on Wednesday, but dropped back to the 390,000 range on this day.

However, the number of deaths surged again to 470 yesterday, the highest since COVID-19 first appeared in the country. Daily deaths had increased to 429 on the 17th, when new cases were at their highest, and have fluctuated above 300 every day over the past week.

The number of critically ill patients currently hospitalized is also 1,081, maintaining a four-digit figure for 17 consecutive days since surpassing 1,000 on the 8th. Of the 2,825 nationwide COVID-19 critical care beds, 1,825 are in use, resulting in an occupancy rate of 64.6%. The semi-critical care bed occupancy rate is 68.8% (3,683 out of 5,353 beds in use), and the moderate care bed occupancy rate is 42.1% (10,527 out of 24,977 beds in use).

As of today, there are 1,873,582 patients under home treatment nationwide, of whom 279,029 (14.9%) belong to the high-risk or intensive management group.

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