New Confirmed Cases 85,320... 234 Critically Ill, Highest in 64 Days (Update)

35 Deaths... 70% Are Aged 80 or Older

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] The number of new COVID-19 cases slightly decreased compared to the previous day but still showed an increasing trend compared to a week ago. The number of critically ill patients exceeded 200, marking the highest count in 64 days.

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters on the 29th, as of midnight, 85,320 new COVID-19 cases were reported, bringing the total cumulative cases to 19,620,517.

The number of new cases decreased by 3,064 from the previous day but was about 1.24 times higher than the 68,597 cases reported on the 22nd, a week earlier.

Among the new cases, 439 were imported cases, exceeding 400 for two consecutive days. On the 27th, imported cases surpassed 500 for the first time since the COVID-19 outbreak, setting a record high.

The number of critically ill patients hospitalized due to COVID-19 exceeded 200, totaling 234. This is the highest number since May 26 (243 patients). It increased by 38 compared to the previous day. The nationwide critical care bed occupancy rate is 25.0%, with 24.1% in the metropolitan area and 27.5% in non-metropolitan areas.

The number of new deaths was 35, an increase of 10 from the previous day. By age group, those aged 85 and older accounted for 25 deaths, followed by 6 in their 70s, and 2 each in their 50s and 60s. The cumulative death toll is 24,992, with a fatality rate of 0.13%.

With an additional 85,534 patients entering home treatment the previous day, the total number of patients currently under home treatment is 447,211. Among them, 19,703 are in the intensive management group receiving health monitoring from medical institutions.

The government will abolish the system of dividing home treatment patients into intensive management and general management groups starting from the 1st of next month. Accordingly, health monitoring for the intensive management group, which includes elderly people aged 60 and over and immunocompromised individuals, will also be discontinued.

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