Decrease Continues... Domestic COVID-19 Cases Still Among the World's Highest

Weekly Confirmed Cases According to Worldometer
South Korea Ranks 10th Among 192 Countries Worldwide

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] Although the number of COVID-19 cases in South Korea continues to decline, the scale of infections remains among the highest in the world.

According to the international statistics site Worldometer, as of the 1st, South Korea recorded 109,653 new cases in the past week, ranking 10th among 192 countries. During the same period, it ranked 15th in the number of deaths.

In the "Comparison of Major 9 Countries' Cases" announced by health authorities, South Korea ranked 4th among the nine countries with 3,339 cases per 1 million people from April 16 to 22. Although the number of cases was lower than New Zealand, Singapore, and Germany, it was higher than the United States (2,144 cases). The U.S. has seen an increase in cases for eight consecutive weeks due to the spread of the BA.2.12.1 subvariant of Omicron. At one point, daily new cases exceeded 100,000, approaching the scale of the Delta variant outbreak.

However, compared to March when the Omicron wave peaked and South Korea ranked first or second worldwide in both COVID-19 cases and deaths, the situation has calmed down. Recently, weekly domestic COVID-19 cases, severe cases, and death indicators have been decreasing every week. The incidence rate per 100,000 people dropped from 516.1 in the first week of May to 288.59 in the second week, 352.07 in the third week, and 250.41 in the fourth week. This represents a reduction to about half over the course of a month.

Meanwhile, according to Worldometer, North Korea currently has the highest weekly number of COVID-19 cases worldwide. It ranks second in cases per 1 million people. North Korea's daily new fever cases peaked at approximately 392,920 on April 15 and have fluctuated around 100,000 in the past week.

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