Weekly Confirmed Cases and Severe Cases Decrease Compared to Previous Week... Reinfection Rate at 10.18% (Update)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] Even during the Chuseok holiday last week, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases and critically ill patients decreased compared to the previous week.

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters on the 20th, the weekly COVID-19 risk level for the second week of September (11?17) remained at 'medium' nationwide, in the metropolitan area, and in non-metropolitan areas for two consecutive weeks, with confirmed cases also showing a decline.

During this period, the weekly number of confirmed COVID-19 cases was 383,154 (an average of 54,736 per day), a 20.1% decrease from the previous week. Although a temporary increase in confirmed cases was detected the day after the Chuseok holiday, the trend returned to a decline. Lim Sook-young, head of the Central Disease Control Headquarters' situation management team, stated, "Currently, the number of confirmed cases, critically ill patients, and deaths continue to show a decreasing trend," adding, "Fortunately, the impact of the Chuseok holiday was limited."

The effective reproduction number (Rt) was 0.82, maintaining below 1 for four consecutive weeks since the fourth week of August (0.98). An Rt below 1 indicates suppression of the epidemic. The proportion of confirmed cases aged 60 and over, which had been increasing for more than two weeks, dropped by 1.5 percentage points compared to the previous week.

The number of new critically ill patients in the second week of this month was 369, a 23.4% decrease from the previous week. Deaths also decreased by 14.8% to 353 compared to the previous week.

Lim said, "Because the scale of the summer resurgence was large, the winter resurgence is expected to be somewhat smaller," and added, "If a new variant spreads, there could be a certain increase in cases during winter or afterward."

The proportion of suspected reinfection cases among weekly confirmed cases in the first week of this month (4?10) was confirmed at 10.18%. The proportion of suspected reinfection cases among weekly confirmed cases increased from 7.64% in the third week of August → 9.65% in the fourth week of August → 9.72% in the fifth week of August → 10.18% in the first week of September, surpassing 10% for the first time.

As of midnight on the 11th, among the cumulative 23,399,115 confirmed cases, suspected reinfection cases accounted for 456,951 (1.95%). Of these, 99.79% (455,999 cases) were second infections, and 0.21% (952 cases) were third infections. By age group, among second infections, children aged 5?11 accounted for the largest share at 27.0%. Among third infections, the highest proportion (21.4%) was among those aged 18?29. By infection period, the most common cases were those first infected during the BA.1 wave and reinfected during the BA.5 wave, totaling 219,348 cases (48.1%).

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