97,609 Confirmed Cases by 6 PM... 2.4 Times Yesterday's Number as Testing Increases Again

62,250 Fewer Than a Week Ago
Under 100,000 on Monday Same Time Slot for the First Time in 8 Weeks

On the first day of the complete lifting of COVID-19 social distancing measures on the 18th, the temporary screening clinic in front of Seoul City Hall was quiet. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency's Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters announced that as of midnight, there were 47,743 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 16,353,495. Seoul City plans to dismantle the temporary screening clinic at Seoul Plaza on the 22nd and create a "Reading Seoul Plaza" starting from the 23rd. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Gyumin] As the number of COVID-19 cases in South Korea shows a declining trend, nearly 100,000 new COVID-19 cases were reported nationwide as of 6 p.m. on the 18th.

According to Seoul and other local governments, the number of people confirmed positive for COVID-19 from midnight to 6 p.m. on this day was counted at 97,609.

This is 57,651 more than the 39,958 cases recorded during the same time frame the previous day.

Although the number of confirmed cases decreased the previous day due to fewer tests conducted on the holiday, the increase in testing on this day appears to have caused the number of confirmed cases to rise again to about 2.4 times the previous count.

However, the number of confirmed cases on this day is 62,250 fewer than the 159,859 cases recorded at the same time on the 11th, one week ago. Compared to two weeks ago on the 4th (202,829 cases), it shows a clear decrease to about half the level.

For the first time in eight weeks since February 21 (86,372 cases), the Monday 6 p.m. count fell below 100,000.

As of 6 p.m. on this day, new confirmed cases were 50,430 (51.7%) in the metropolitan area and 47,179 (48.3%) in non-metropolitan areas.

By region, the numbers are: Gyeonggi 27,241, Seoul 17,621, Gyeongnam 5,769, Incheon 5,568, Daegu 5,256, Chungnam 4,989, Jeonbuk 4,976, Jeonnam 4,633, Gyeongbuk 4,551, Busan 3,548, Gangwon 3,144, Gwangju 2,946, Daejeon 2,808, Ulsan 2,387, Chungbuk 1,218, Jeju 757, Sejong 197, etc.

From the 12th for one week, the daily new confirmed cases were 210,732 → 195,397 → 148,431 → 125,846 → 107,916 → 93,001 → 47,743, with a daily average of about 132,724 cases.

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