Subsiding COVID-19... New Cases in the 40,000s (Comprehensive)

New COVID-19 Cases Below 100,000 for Ten Consecutive Days
Severe Cases and Deaths Also Declining

On the evening of the 18th, citizens are drinking in Euljiro Nogari Alley. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Minwoo Lee] On the 30th, the number of new COVID-19 cases dropped to the 40,000 range. For ten consecutive days, the daily new cases have remained below 100,000, showing signs of the COVID-19 spread slowing down.

The Central Disease Control Headquarters announced that as of midnight on this day, the number of new confirmed cases was 43,286. This is 7,282 fewer than the 50,568 new cases reported the previous day. The daily new cases over the past week since the 24th were 64,704 → 34,361 → 80,349 → 76,775 → 57,460 → 50,568 → 43,286. Since the 21st (90,852 cases), the daily confirmed cases have remained below 100,000 for ten consecutive days. The cumulative confirmed cases as of this day reached 17,237,878.

Including imported cases, the confirmed cases by region were as follows: Gyeonggi 10,343, Seoul 6,455, Gyeongbuk 2,868, Gyeongnam 2,717, Daegu 2,316, Jeonnam 2,263, Busan 231, Jeonbuk 1,998, Incheon 1,960, Chungnam 1,943, Gwangju 1,655, Gangwon 1,644, Chungbuk 1,471, Daejeon 1,458, Ulsan 995, and Sejong 382.

The number of confirmed cases on Saturdays has also been decreasing weekly. Compared to a week ago on the 23rd (75,432 cases) and two weeks ago on the 16th (107,895 cases), the numbers have clearly declined. This is the first time in 12 weeks since February 5th (36,338 cases) that Saturday's new confirmed cases have fallen below 50,000.

Severe and critical patients are also decreasing. The number of severe and critical patients on this day was 490, down by 36 from 526 the previous day. The number of severe and critical patients falling to the 400s is the first time in over two months since February 22nd (480 patients).

Health authorities and research institutions expect the number of severe and critical patients to drop to the 300s after the third week of May.

The nationwide severe bed occupancy rate was 26.3% (731 out of 2,781 beds in use) as of midnight on this day, down 1.3 percentage points from 27.6% the previous day. The number of patients receiving home treatment without hospitalization was 370,948, a decrease of 21,758 from 392,706 the previous day.

The number of deaths is also on the decline. There were 70 deaths the previous day, 66 fewer than the 136 deaths the day before. The highest number of deaths was among those aged 80 and above with 35 (50.0%), followed by 18 in their 70s, 11 in their 60s, 4 in their 50s, and 1 in their 40s. One additional death was reported among children aged 0-9.

New daily deaths peaked at 469 on the 24th of last month but have recently fallen to around 100. The total cumulative deaths reached 22,794, making the cumulative COVID-19 fatality rate 0.13%.

The government judged that the decrease in confirmed cases, severe and critical patients, and deaths is clear, and that the medical system is relatively stable, so it decided to lift the outdoor mask-wearing mandate starting next week. However, masks must still be worn at gatherings of 50 or more people, events, performances, and sports game viewings where the risk of infection is high.

Meanwhile, the COVID-19 vaccination completion rate (percentage of those who completed the basic vaccination) was 86.8% (a cumulative total of 44,546,926 people) as of midnight on this day. The third dose vaccination rate was 64.5% of the total population (a cumulative total of 33,118,863 people). The first dose vaccination rate for children aged 5-11 was 1.6%.

The fourth dose vaccination rate was 4.0%, and among those aged 60 and above, 14.1% have completed the fourth dose.

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