New Confirmed Cases 37,771, Over 30,000 for the First Time in Six Days... 81 Deaths, 493 Critically Ill

ICU Bed Utilization Rate at 24.9%
Home Treatment Patients at 361,741

The temporary screening clinic at Seoul Station Plaza was quiet on the 1st as the spread of COVID-19 subsided. On that day, 37,771 new confirmed cases were reported, 5,515 fewer than the previous day (43,286). Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] As Omicron variant infections decline, the number of new COVID-19 cases has dropped back to the 30,000 range.

On the 1st, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency's Central Disease Control Headquarters announced that as of midnight, 37,771 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total to 17,275,649.

The number of new cases is 5,515 fewer than the 43,286 reported the previous day. It is the first time in six days since the 25th, when 34,361 cases were reported, that the daily new cases have fallen to the 30,000 range.

Daily confirmed cases have remained below 100,000 for 11 consecutive days since the 21st of last month, when 90,851 cases were reported. The number of cases announced on Sundays has also been decreasing weekly.

By region, new cases were 5,462 in Seoul, 8,575 in Gyeonggi, and 1,760 in Incheon, with the metropolitan area totaling 15,797 cases, accounting for 41.8%.

Non-metropolitan areas reported 21,974 cases (58.2%). The breakdown is as follows: Gyeongbuk 2,671, Gyeongnam 2,486, Daegu 2,035, Jeonnam 1,962, Chungnam 1,821, Jeonbuk 1,742, Busan 1,635, Chungbuk 1,592, Gangwon 1,401, Daejeon 1,337, Gwangju 1,300, Ulsan 1,050, Jeju 577, Sejong 360, and quarantine 5.

Among the new cases, 37,741 were domestic transmissions, and 30 were imported cases.

Among domestic cases, high-risk groups aged 60 and over numbered 9,324 (24.7%), and children and adolescents aged 18 and under were 6,876 (18.2%).

Health authorities and research institutions expect the number of critically ill patients to fall below 500 after the first week of this month and to decrease to the 300s after the third week.

The nationwide intensive care unit (ICU) bed occupancy rate was 24.9% as of midnight, with 731 of 2,781 beds in use. This is a 1.4 percentage point decrease from the previous day (26.3%). Of the 2,781 beds, 2,088 are available. The occupancy rate is 24.0% in the metropolitan area and 27.1% in non-metropolitan areas.

The number of patients receiving home treatment without hospitalization was 361,741, down 9,207 from the previous day (370,948).

Among those under home treatment, 32,092 are in the intensive management group receiving health monitoring from medical institutions, while the rest manage their health independently at home as the general management group.

The number of deaths is also showing a downward trend.

On the previous day, 81 COVID-19 patients died, an increase of 11 from the day before (70). The total cumulative deaths stand at 22,876, with a cumulative fatality rate of 0.13%.

By age group, those aged 80 and over accounted for the most deaths at 52 (64.2%), followed by 12 in their 70s, 9 in their 60s, 4 in their 50s, 3 in their 40s, and 1 in their 30s.

A total of 38,006 diagnostic tests were conducted at screening clinics on the previous day.

As of midnight, the number of people under home treatment was 361,741. Among them, 32,092 (8.87%) are in the intensive management group receiving health monitoring twice daily.

There are 10,525 medical institutions nationwide conducting rapid antigen tests, including 477 respiratory clinics and 10,048 designated respiratory medical institutions.

Meanwhile, the government plans to lift the outdoor mask-wearing mandate starting Monday, the 2nd, as the numbers of confirmed cases, critically ill patients, and deaths show clear declines.

However, mask-wearing will remain mandatory at gatherings of 50 or more people, events, performances, and sports game viewings where crowd density is high and there is a risk of droplet spread due to shouting.

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