New COVID-19 Cases Fall Below 140,000... 573 Severe Cases Highest in Four Months (Update)

Confirmed Cases Decrease by Over 12,000 Compared to Two Weeks Ago
Critical Patients Quadruple in One Month ... 63 Deaths per Day

On the 24th, as the spread of COVID-19 continued, the screening clinic at Mapo-gu Public Health Center in Seoul was crowded with citizens. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] As the COVID-19 resurgence is expected to shift into a declining trend, the number of new confirmed cases on weekdays has fallen below 140,000. The number of critically ill patients hospitalized reached the highest figure in four months.

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters on the 24th, as of midnight on that day, the number of new COVID-19 confirmed cases increased by 139,339, bringing the total cumulative confirmed cases to 22,588,640.

The number of new confirmed cases on that day was 10,919 fewer than the previous day (150,258) and 41,424 fewer than a week earlier on the 17th (180,763). However, direct comparison is difficult since the 17th was right after the Gwangbokjeol holiday, when the number of diagnostic tests increased and confirmed cases surged.

Compared to two weeks ago on the 10th, when the number of confirmed cases was 151,728, it was 12,389 fewer, indicating that the downward trend observed this week seems to have continued on that day as well.

From the 18th to the most recent week, the daily new confirmed cases were 178,541 → 138,794 → 129,395 → 110,936 → 59,046 → 150,258 → 139,339, averaging 129,473 cases per day.

The number of critically ill patients increased by 69 from the previous day to 573, marking the highest number in 120 days since April 26 (613). This is about 3.9 times the level of a month ago on the 24th (146). Among the critically ill patients, 493 (86.0%) are aged 60 or older.

The number of deaths due to COVID-19 on the previous day was 63, an increase of 11 from the day before. Among the deceased, 47 (74.6%) were aged 80 or older, 19 were in their 70s, 3 in their 60s, and one each in their 50s, 40s, and teens. The cumulative number of deaths among teenagers reached 16. The total cumulative deaths stand at 26,224, with a cumulative COVID-19 fatality rate of 0.12%.

As of 5 p.m. the previous day, the occupancy rate of critically ill patient beds was 44.9% (827 out of 1,841 beds in use), a 0.1 percentage point increase from the previous day (44.8%). The occupancy rate of semi-critical beds was 58.1%, and that of moderate-severity beds was 43.9%, both decreasing by 1.7 and 1.1 percentage points respectively from the previous day.

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