COVID-19 New Cases 37,360 ... Highest in 62 Days (Update)

Severe cases remain in the 70s for two consecutive days... Home treatment patients also increase to 110,000

On the 11th, as the COVID-19 resurgence phase began, the screening clinic set up at Songpa-gu Public Health Center in Seoul was crowded with citizens seeking testing. / Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The number of new COVID-19 cases exceeded 37,000, marking the highest figure in over two months. The resurgence is spreading faster than expected, with a clear 'doubling' phenomenon where the number of cases doubles every week.

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters on the 12th, as of midnight, the number of new COVID-19 cases was 37,360, bringing the total cumulative cases to 18,561,861.

The number of new cases on this day was the highest in 62 days since May 11, when 43,908 cases were reported. On Tuesdays, the number of cases increased nearly twofold from 9,894 on the 28th of last month to 18,136 on the 5th of this month, and then increased again by 2.1 times on this day. Compared to the previous day (the 11th), which reflected the weekend effect with 12,693 cases, this is 2.9 times higher.

Notably, among the new cases, 260 were imported cases, the highest since late January this year (268 cases on January 26).

The number of critically ill patients hospitalized had remained in the 50-60 range until last week but increased to 71 the previous day and 74 on this day. The number of home-treated patients, which had consistently been below 100,000, reached 108,022 as of midnight the previous day and 116,563 on this day.

Of the 1,466 intensive care unit beds dedicated to critical patients, 140 are in use, resulting in an occupancy rate of 9.5%. The occupancy rates for semi-critical beds and moderate beds are 17.9% and 14.6%, respectively.

The number of COVID-19 deaths reported the previous day was 7, which is 11 fewer than the day before. Among the deceased, four were aged 80 or older, and one each in their 70s, 60s, and 30s. The cumulative death toll to date stands at 24,668, with a cumulative fatality rate of 0.13%.

The National Infectious Disease Crisis Response Advisory Committee, which advises on government quarantine policies, held its first meeting last evening to discuss measures for responding to the resurgence. Based on this outcome, the government plans to announce on the 13th measures including the extension of isolation requirements for confirmed cases and other quarantine and medical system responses.

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