Infection Reproduction Number 1.58, Rising for 6 Consecutive Weeks... Risk Level 'Medium' for 2 Weeks (Update)

Jeonju rises 0.18 from '1.40'

On the 19th, when the number of new COVID-19 cases surged to over 70,000 at once, signaling the start of a full-scale resurgence, commuters wearing masks were moving through Gwanghwamun Station on the Seoul subway during the morning rush hour. According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters, as of midnight that day, 73,582 cases were reported. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] As the number of new COVID-19 cases continues to rise daily, the effective reproduction number (Rt), which indicates the spread of infection, has been increasing consecutively.

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters on the 19th, the effective reproduction number for the second week of this month (July 10?16) rose from 1.40 the previous week to 1.58. The effective reproduction number is an indicator showing how many people one infected person transmits the virus to; a value above 1 means the epidemic is spreading.

The effective reproduction number had dropped to 0.74 in the first week of last month but has increased for six consecutive weeks since then. It has exceeded 1 for three weeks since the last week of last month, indicating a rise in COVID-19 cases.

However, the Central Disease Control Headquarters assessed the weekly COVID-19 risk level nationwide, in the metropolitan area, and in non-metropolitan areas as 'medium,' the same as the previous week, for the second week of this month. The weekly COVID-19 risk level had remained 'low' for seven consecutive weeks since mid-May but was adjusted to 'medium' starting last week.

Im Sook-young, head of the Central Disease Control Headquarters' Situation Management Division, explained, "Due to the increasing trend in imported cases and the rising detection rate of the BA.5 variant in domestic infections, it is judged that the increase in confirmed cases will continue, leading to the weekly risk level being evaluated as 'medium.' However, since there is still sufficient capacity in both critical and semi-critical care beds, the risk level is not currently assessed as very high."

Meanwhile, as of midnight on the 10th, the estimated number of COVID-19 reinfection cases was 77,200. The incidence rate among cumulative confirmed cases is 0.422%. Of these, secondary infections account for 77,092 cases, making up the majority, while tertiary infections number 108.

From the 4th to the 10th, the proportion of estimated reinfection cases among confirmed cases in the past week was 2.88%, an increase of 0.02 percentage points compared to the previous week.

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