COVID-19 New Cases 20,601... Increase Compared to Previous Week for Two Consecutive Days

Medical staff are collecting specimens at the temporary COVID-19 screening clinic set up in Seoul Station Plaza. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] The daily number of new COVID-19 cases has increased for two consecutive days compared to the previous week, indicating a pause in the declining trend of infections.

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency's Central Disease Control Headquarters on the 9th, as of midnight, the number of new COVID-19 cases was 20,601. The cumulative total of confirmed cases reached 17,564,999.

The decline that had continued for 45 days compared to the same day of the previous week since March 24 has also stopped. The number of new cases the previous day was 40,064, which is 1.06 times higher than 37,760 on the 1st, and on this day, it increased by 1.03 times compared to 20,076 on the 2nd.

The number of critically ill patients currently hospitalized is 421, an increase of 2 from the previous day (423). However, the number of critically ill patients has remained in the 400s for 10 consecutive days since the 30th of last month. The nationwide critical care bed occupancy rate is 20.6%. Among these, the metropolitan area is 19.0%, and non-metropolitan areas are 24.2%.

The number of COVID-19 deaths reported on this day was 40, a decrease of 31 from the previous day (71). The cumulative number of deaths is 23,400, with a fatality rate of 0.13%.

The number of patients currently under home treatment is 241,315, slightly down from 252,356 the previous day. On the previous day, 23,917 new patients were added to home treatment, and 19,000 patients are under intensive care receiving health management from medical institutions.

The COVID-19 vaccination rates are 87.8% for the first dose, 86.8% for the second dose, and 64.7% for the third dose. Among those who received the fourth dose, 530 people aged 60 and over were vaccinated the previous day, bringing the fourth dose vaccination rate for this age group to 20.1%.

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