Weekly Average Daily Cases at 9,000... Mid- to Long-Term Plan for New Infectious Disease Response Confirmed in May

Park Min-su, the 1st Chief Coordinator of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (2nd Vice Minister of Health and Welfare), is presiding over the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting on the 8th.
[Photo by Ministry of Health and Welfare]

As the COVID-19 outbreak continues to decline, the weekly average daily confirmed cases have dropped below 10,000.

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters (CDCH) on the 8th, the weekly average daily confirmed cases for the first week of March (February 26 to March 4) stood at 9,363, a 7.0% decrease compared to the previous week (10,060 cases). The reproduction number, which indicates how many people one infected person transmits the virus to, was 0.93, marking the ninth consecutive week below 1.

The weekly average daily number of critically ill patients was 150, down 21.1% from the previous week (190). The average daily death toll also decreased by 16.7% from the previous week (14) to 11. Among critically ill patients and deaths, those aged 60 and above accounted for 84.0% (126 patients) and 100%, respectively.

Hospital bed occupancy rates nationwide, in the metropolitan area, and in non-metropolitan areas remained below 20% for three consecutive weeks. The nationwide intensive care unit (ICU) bed occupancy rate was 13.0%, and the semi-critical care bed occupancy rate was 12.3%. Considering this situation, the health authorities assessed the weekly COVID-19 risk level as "low" nationwide, in the metropolitan area, and in non-metropolitan areas.

Additionally, the health authorities have begun reviewing the existing COVID-19 response measures and started formulating mid- to long-term plans to respond to potential new emerging infectious diseases in the future. They plan to identify improvement tasks by sector and announce a finalized plan in May after public forums, expert consultations, and national public hearings.

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