New COVID-19 Cases in 80,000s... Deaths Fall Below 100 for First Time in 55 Days (Update)

Cumulative Confirmed Cases Surpass 17 Million... 1 in 3 Citizens Infected

On the 25th, when the 4th COVID-19 booster vaccination for those aged 60 and over who made advance reservations began, a citizen received the vaccine at Bumin Hospital in Gangseo-gu, Seoul. April 25, 2022 Photo by Joint Press Corps (Portrait rights obtained)

As the Omicron variant wave continues its clear downward trend, the number of new weekday COVID-19 cases recorded 80,000. The number of deaths due to COVID-19 also dropped below 100 for the first time in 55 days.

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters on the 26th, as of midnight, the number of new COVID-19 cases increased by 80,361 from the previous day, bringing the cumulative total to 17,009,865. With the cumulative number of cases surpassing 17 million, approximately one in three Koreans has been infected with COVID-19.

The number of new cases on this day was more than double the previous day’s figure (34,370), which had fallen to the 30,000 range due to a decrease in weekend testing. However, it was nearly 40,000 fewer than the 118,478 cases reported on the same weekday last week, the 19th, and more than 130,000 fewer than the 210,725 cases reported two weeks ago on the 12th. This is the first time in nine weeks that Tuesday’s new cases have fallen below 100,000 since February 22 (99,562 cases).

The number of deaths and critically ill patients continues to decline. The number of COVID-19 deaths reported the previous day was 82, down 28 from the day before (110). The death toll falling below 100 is the first time in 55 days since March 2 (96 deaths).

By age group, those aged 80 and above accounted for the most deaths with 50 (61.0%), followed by 15 in their 70s, 9 in their 60s, 7 in their 50s, and 1 in their 40s.

The total cumulative death toll stands at 22,325, with a cumulative fatality rate of 0.13%.

The number of critically ill patients was 613, down 55 from the previous day (668), marking two consecutive days in the 600s. The nationwide severe bed occupancy rate as of midnight was 33.4% (932 out of 2,791 beds in use), down 2.2 percentage points from the previous day (35.6%), and the semi-severe bed occupancy rate was 39.2%.

The number of patients under home treatment was 461,401, down 48,295 from the previous day (509,696). Among them, the intensive management group receiving health monitoring from home treatment management medical institutions numbered 40,737.

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