"Due to Stealth Omicron Spread" ... New COVID-19 Cases Back to 340,000 Level (Update)

1215 Severe Cases for Three Consecutive Days Above 1200
Critical Care Bed Occupancy at 68% … 237 Deaths Reported Yesterday

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] As the stealth Omicron (BA.2), which has a higher transmissibility than the existing Omicron variant, is spreading, nearly 350,000 new daily COVID-19 cases have been reported again.

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters on the 29th, as of midnight, the number of new COVID-19 cases increased by 347,554 from the previous day, bringing the total cumulative number of confirmed cases to 12,350,428.

The daily new cases, which had dropped below 200,000 (187,213) the day before, increased by more than 160,000 in one day. However, compared to a week ago on the 22nd (353,911), it is 6,357 fewer cases.

New cases recorded a historic high of 621,197 on the 17th, followed by the second highest of 490,821 on the 23rd, and then showed a slight decline with 395,568 on the 24th, 339,514 on the 25th, 335,580 on the 26th, and 318,130 on the 27th. Due to a decrease in the number of tests over the weekend, the new cases on the 28th were limited to 187,213, but with over 340,000 cases reported again on this day, attention is focused on the scale of confirmed cases on the 30th (Wednesday), when the number of tests is expected to increase.

The government officially assessed the day before that the Omicron wave has passed its peak after 11 weeks and is gradually declining. However, risk factors remain as the number of severe and fatal cases has not significantly decreased, and BA.2 has become the new dominant strain with a detection rate of 56.3%.

The number of deaths reported in one day due to COVID-19 was 237, which is 50 fewer than the 287 on the 28th, but it has remained in the 200s for three consecutive days. The cumulative number of deaths to date is 15,423, with a cumulative fatality rate of 0.12%.

The number of severe COVID-19 patients currently hospitalized is 1,215, maintaining the 1,200 range for three consecutive days. Of the 2,825 severe care beds nationwide, 1,926 are in use, resulting in a bed occupancy rate of 68.2%. The occupancy rate for semi-severe beds is 68.7%, and for moderate beds, it is 42.9%.

An additional 307,342 patients were newly assigned to home treatment, bringing the total number of home-treated patients to 1,703,065 as of this day. Among them, 222,599 are in the intensive management group.

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