46,783 New COVID-19 Cases Nationwide by 9 PM... Half of Yesterday's Level

Full Lifting of Social Distancing Measures Starting Tomorrow

On the 17th, as the spread of COVID-19 slows and the full lifting of social distancing measures approaches, citizens are moving around the Hongdae area in Mapo-gu, Seoul. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] As the domestic Omicron variant wave continues to decline, about 46,000 new COVID-19 cases were reported nationwide as of 9 p.m. on the 17th.

According to Seoul Metropolitan Government and other local governments, from midnight to 9 p.m. on the day, 46,783 people across 17 cities and provinces nationwide were confirmed positive for COVID-19. This is 44,783 fewer than the 91,566 cases recorded during the same time frame the previous day. The decrease in the wave combined with reduced testing over the weekend caused the number of new cases to drop to about half of the previous day’s count. The number of confirmed cases below 50,000 as of 9 p.m. on a Sunday is the first time in 10 weeks since February 6 (27,710 cases).

The count as of 9 p.m. on this day is 42,713 fewer than the 89,496 cases recorded at the same time one week ago on the 10th, and 81,109 fewer than the 127,892 cases two weeks ago on the 3rd. Since there is still time until midnight when the count closes, the new cases announced on the 18th are expected to be higher than this number.

As of 9 p.m., new cases were 23,577 (50.4%) in the metropolitan area and 23,206 (49.6%) in non-metropolitan areas. By region, Gyeonggi had 13,827 cases, Seoul 7,345, Gyeongbuk 2,775, Chungnam 2,481, Incheon 2,405, Gyeongnam 2,366, Jeonbuk 2,071, Gangwon 1,851, Daegu 1,526, Chungbuk 1,451, Ulsan 932, Busan 924, Jeju 803, and Sejong 474.

From the 11th for one week, the daily new confirmed cases were 90,917 → 210,732 → 195,397 → 148,431 → 125,846 → 107,916 → 93,001, averaging about 138,891 cases per day.

The government has decided to fully lift social distancing measures starting from the 18th, judging that the COVID-19 wave is maintaining a downward trend and the healthcare system is stable.

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