677 Confirmed Cases by 6 PM Today... Over 800 Including Dongbu Detention Center

by Cho Seongpill

Published 31 Dec.2020 19:58(KST)

Medical staff are encouraging each other at the Seoul Station Temporary Screening Clinic in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Jo] As of 6 p.m. on the 31st, the total number of new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) nationwide was counted at 677. This is 64 more than the 613 cases recorded at the same time the previous day. However, this count does not include an additional 131 confirmed cases from Seoul Eastern Detention Center. Including these additional cases from the detention center, the total number of new confirmed cases rises to 808.

Looking only at the 677 cases reported by local governments, 456 cases (67.4%) were in the metropolitan area, and 221 cases (32.6%) were in non-metropolitan areas. By city and province, Gyeonggi had 204 cases, Seoul 202, Incheon 50, Busan 38, Ulsan 35, Daegu 31, Gangwon 27, Gyeongnam 26, Gyeongbuk 19, Chungnam 14, Daejeon 8, Jeonbuk and Gwangju 7 each, Chungbuk 5, Jeonnam 3, and Sejong 1. Among the 17 cities and provinces, Jeju has reported no new confirmed cases so far.

Regarding major infection cases, on this day in Busan, 38 confirmed cases were reported, including 23 related to the Parangsae Senior Health Center in Yeongdo-gu in the morning, continuing the spread centered around senior centers and nursing hospitals. In Daejeon, Sejong, and Seosan in Chungnam, 7 confirmed cases were linked to a screen golf gathering, and the cumulative confirmed cases related to a foreign food store in Cheonan, Chungnam, continued to increase, reaching 109 cases.