Weekly Confirmed Cases Down 14.0% from Previous Week... Estimated Reinfection Rate 10.92% (Update)

BA.5 Detection Rate 93.3%
BA.2.75 at 3.1%, BA.4.6 at 0.2% Detection

On the 3rd, the screening clinic set up at Yongsan-gu Public Health Center in Seoul showed a quiet scene as 12,150 new COVID-19 cases were reported, marking the lowest Monday count in 13 weeks. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] The weekly number of COVID-19 cases has decreased for the sixth consecutive week. The proportion of suspected reinfection cases among weekly confirmed cases increased to 10.92% compared to the previous week.

On the 5th, the Central Disease Control Headquarters announced that the number of weekly confirmed cases for the fourth week of September (September 25 to October 1) decreased by 14.0% compared to the previous week, with an average daily occurrence of about 28,000 cases. During this period, the weekly confirmed cases totaled 201,796, and the effective reproduction number was 0.80, maintaining below 1 for six consecutive weeks. During the same period, the number of new critically ill patients was 248, a 26.0% decrease from the previous week, and the number of deaths was 305, down 14.8% from the previous week.

Although the effective reproduction number remains below 1, indicating 'epidemic suppression,' it stayed at 0.80, the same as the previous week. Lim Sook-young, head of the Central Disease Control Headquarters’ situation management team, said, "The COVID-19 epidemic situation is relatively stabilized, maintaining an effective reproduction number below 1 for six consecutive weeks," but added, "Since the reproduction number has stagnated at 0.80 following last week, the decline in confirmed cases is expected to proceed somewhat gradually."

The average daily incidence rate decreased compared to the previous week across all age groups, but the proportion of cases among those aged 60 and older slightly increased. The percentage of confirmed cases aged 60 and above was recorded as 24.9% in the first week of September → 23.4% in the second week → 24.5% in the third week → 24.6% in the fourth week.

In the third week of September (September 18?24), the proportion of suspected reinfection cases among weekly confirmed cases was 10.92%, up 0.64 percentage points from the previous week (10.28%). The reinfection rate has risen weekly over the past four weeks: 9.72% → 10.17% → 10.28% → 10.92%. As of the 25th of last month, among the cumulative 23,952,767 confirmed cases, suspected reinfection cases totaled 515,134 (2.15%).

As of the 1st, the detection rate of the dominant domestic variant BA.5 was 93.3%, down 2.5 percentage points from the previous week. The detection rate of BA.2.75 increased by 1.1 percentage points to 3.1%. The detection rate of BA.4.6 decreased by 0.2 percentage points to 0.2% during the same period.

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