New Daily Cases at 50,000s, Down 20,000 in One Day... Severe Cases Back to 500s (Update)

New Confirmed Cases 51,874 ... Severe Cases 516 · Deaths 60

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), stated last week that the number of deaths related to COVID-19 has reached its lowest point since March 2020, indicating that the end of the global pandemic is in sight. Meanwhile, on the 15th, the screening clinic at Jung-gu Public Health Center in Seoul was quiet. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The scale of the COVID-19 outbreak, which rebounded immediately after the Chuseok holiday, has turned to a decline, with the number of new daily confirmed cases dropping back to the 50,000 range.

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters on the 16th, as of midnight on that day, the number of new COVID-19 confirmed cases increased by 51,874, bringing the total cumulative confirmed cases to 24,316,302.

The number of new confirmed cases on that day decreased by 19,597 compared to the previous day’s 71,471. Compared to a week ago, the first day of the Chuseok holiday on the 9th (69,399 cases), it decreased by 17,525, and compared to two weeks ago on the 2nd (89,558 cases), it decreased by 37,684. This is the smallest number reported on a Friday since July 15 (38,857 cases), nine weeks ago.

From the 10th to that day, the daily new confirmed cases over the week were 42,705 → 28,201 → 36,925 → 57,291 → 93,967 → 71,471 → 51,874, averaging 54,633 cases per day. The number of new confirmed cases decreased during the Chuseok holiday period from the 9th to the 12th due to a reduction in diagnostic tests, but after the holiday, the number of tests increased again, causing the cases to surge close to 100,000 on the 14th. However, it soon turned to a decline, decreasing by about 20,000 cases per day on the 15th and that day.

However, as of midnight on that day, the number of critically ill patients was 516, an increase of 25 from the previous day (491). The number of critically ill patients, which had dropped to the 400s a week ago, rose back to the 500s.

The number of deaths from COVID-19 on the previous day was 60, down by 12 from the day before (72). Among the deceased, 31 (51.7%) were aged 80 or older, 16 were in their 70s, 11 in their 60s, 1 in their 50s, and 1 in their 30s. The cumulative number of deaths is 27,725, with a cumulative fatality rate of 0.11%.

As of 5 p.m. the previous day, the bed occupancy rate was 29.0% for critically ill beds (536 out of 1,846 beds in use), 36.6% for semi-critical beds, and 23.6% for moderate severity beds.

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