COVID-19 New Cases Reach 70,000s... Severe Cases Drop Below 500 for the First Time in 16 Days (Update)

More than 12,000 fewer than the previous day... 493 in critical condition, 64 deaths

The government has decided to abolish the pre-entry COVID-19 test for overseas arrivals. On the 29th, the testing center at Incheon International Airport Terminal 2 was crowded with passengers. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] As the decline in the resurgence of COVID-19 continues, the number of new daily confirmed cases has dropped to the 70,000 range.

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters on the 8th, as of midnight on that day, the number of new COVID-19 confirmed cases increased by 72,646, bringing the total cumulative confirmed cases to 23,864,560.

The number of new confirmed cases on this day decreased by 12,894 compared to the previous day (85,540). It was 8,909 fewer than a week ago on the 1st (81,555), and 40,701 fewer than two weeks ago on the 25th of last month (113,347). This is the lowest number reported on a Thursday since July 21 (71,129), seven weeks ago.

From the 2nd to this day, the number of new confirmed cases over the week was 89,560 → 79,728 → 72,131 → 37,535 → 99,837 → 85,540 → 72,646, with a daily average of 76,711.

The number of critically ill patients currently hospitalized was 493, down 28 from the previous day (521). The number of critically ill patients had remained above 500 since the 23rd of last month (487) but has dropped back to the 400s after 16 days.

The number of deaths due to COVID-19 on the previous day was 64, an increase of 8 from the day before (56). By age group, 40 (62.5%) were aged 80 and above, 16 (25.0%) were in their 70s, with 3 in their 60s, 1 in their 50s, 2 in their 40s, and 1 each in their 30s and 20s. The cumulative number of deaths is 27,313, with a cumulative fatality rate of 0.11%.

As of 5 p.m. the previous day, the bed occupancy rates were 33.3% for critically ill beds, 45.2% for semi-critical beds, and 29.3% for moderate severity beds.

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