COVID-19 New Cases 57,464 ... Lowest Thursday Count in 11 Weeks (Update)

Severe COVID-19 Patients Remain in the 500s for Two Consecutive Days

As social distancing measures, including restrictions on private gatherings and business hours, were fully lifted, citizens hurried on their way to work at Gwanghwamun Station in the Seoul subway on the 18th, returning to pre-COVID-19 daily life. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] As the Omicron variant shows a clear decline in its spread, the number of new COVID-19 cases has dropped back to the 50,000 range.

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters on the 28th, as of midnight, the number of new COVID-19 cases increased by 57,464 from the previous day, bringing the total cumulative cases to 17,144,065.

The increase in new cases decreased by nearly 20,000 compared to the previous day (76,787), falling back to the high 50,000s. Compared to the same day last week, the 21st, the number dropped by more than 33,000, and compared to two weeks ago on the 14th, it decreased to less than one-third. It is the first time in 11 weeks since February 10 (54,117 cases) that new cases on a Thursday have recorded in the 50,000 range.

The number of critically ill patients hospitalized was 552, marking the second consecutive day in the 500s following the previous day (546). The nationwide intensive care unit (ICU) bed occupancy rate was 29.6% as of midnight (825 out of 2,791 beds in use), down 1.8 percentage points from the previous day (31.4%), falling to the high 20% range.

The occupancy rate of semi-critical care beds, used for patients whose condition is improving from critical or who are at high risk of worsening, was 36.1%.

The number of COVID-19 deaths reported the previous day was 122, 19 fewer than the day before (141). By age group, those aged 80 and above accounted for the most deaths with 73 (59.8%), followed by 26 in their 70s, 18 in their 60s, 4 in their 50s, and 1 in their 40s. The total cumulative deaths stand at 22,588, with a cumulative COVID-19 fatality rate of 0.13%.

The number of patients undergoing home treatment without hospitalization was 419,113, a decrease of more than 22,000 from the previous day (441,745). Among them,

37,547 patients are classified as the intensive management group receiving health monitoring from home treatment management medical institutions.

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