579 Critically Ill Patients, Highest Since Re-epidemic... 95,604 Confirmed Cases, 5,536 Fewer Than Previous 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 Kim Daehyun] The number of new COVID-19 cases has clearly decreased, but the number of critically ill patients is the highest since the resurgence.

The Central Disease Control Headquarters announced on the 26th at midnight that the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases increased by 95,604, bringing the total to 22,898,523. The number of new cases decreased by 5,536 from the previous day (101,140). Compared to one week ago, it is 33,762 fewer, and 28,941 fewer than two weeks ago.

From the 21st to this day, the number of new cases over one week was 110,909 → 59,025 → 150,219 → 139,324 → 113,371 → 101,140 → 95,604, indicating that the resurgence has entered a declining phase.

Among the new cases on this day, 398 were imported cases, 40 more than the previous day's 358. This accounts for 0.42% of the total new cases. Excluding imported cases, domestic infections numbered 95,206.

The key issue is the number of critically ill patients and deaths. The increase or decrease in new cases and their scale affect the number of critically ill patients and deaths with a 2-3 week lag. The number of critically ill patients increased by 4 from the previous day (575) to 579, marking the highest since the resurgence began in early July, continuing the record from the previous day. This is the highest in 123 days since April 26 (613). The number has remained in the 500s for four consecutive days since the 24th (573).

The number of deaths from COVID-19 on the previous day was 86, 5 more than the day before (81). Among the deceased, 51 (59.3%) were aged 80 or older, 24 were in their 70s, 7 in their 60s, and 4 in their 50s. The cumulative death toll is 26,499, with a cumulative fatality rate of 0.12%. The proportion of those aged 60 or older among critically ill patients and deaths is 87.9% (509) and 95.3% (82), respectively.

As of 5 p.m. the previous day, the occupancy rate of critical care beds was 42.8% (790 out of 1,847 beds in use), down 2.5 percentage points from the previous day (45.3%). The occupancy rate of semi-critical care beds was 56.1%, down 1.2 percentage points from the previous day (57.3%), and the occupancy rate of moderate care beds was 41.4%, down 1.6 percentage points from the previous day (43.0%). As of midnight on this day, the number of patients under home treatment was 638,288.

The government plans to strictly manage the treatment of patients in severe care beds starting from the 29th.

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