44 New COVID-19 Cases Yesterday... "24 Imported from Asia and Other Regions" (Update)

At the beginning of this month, arrivals at Incheon International Airport are moving while listening to explanations from quarantine officials.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] The Central Disease Control Headquarters announced that 44 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) were reported on the 7th. Among them, 24 cases were presumed to be imported from overseas, exceeding the 20 cases of community transmission.

By region, 18 cases occurred in the metropolitan area, including 3 in Seoul. In Gwangju, where cluster infections centered around Gwangneuksa Temple and Geumyang Building emerged, 6 new cases were confirmed, and 2 additional cases were reported in Daejeon. One new case each was reported in Daegu and Jeonbuk. The new cases in Daegu and Jeonbuk were imported from overseas. The largest number of cases, 16, were identified during the quarantine stage.

While the health authorities have contained the major cluster infections, new confirmed cases at the community level have slowed, whereas imported cases are clearly on the rise. The number of presumed imported cases was around the 10s earlier this month but has recently increased to an average of 22 per day over the past three days. On the 4th, 63 new confirmed cases were reported, including 27 imported cases. This is the first time in two weeks since the 23rd of last month that imported cases outnumbered locally transmitted cases.

The countries or regions of the imported cases are mainly Asian countries other than China, with about 17 cases reported just yesterday. Recently, imported cases have mainly come from Kazakhstan, India, and Pakistan, and it is presumed that most of the new confirmed cases yesterday were similar. One case was reported from Europe and six from the Americas.

The health authorities consider that imported cases are identified either at the quarantine stage upon entry or while in isolation after arrival, thus occurring within the quarantine management system, and therefore do not pose a significant burden on quarantine operations. However, some in the medical community argue that as the treatment burden increases, entry restrictions should be strengthened.

One additional death was reported yesterday, bringing the total number of COVID-19 deaths in the country to 285. An 85-year-old male patient who was receiving inpatient treatment at Gyeonggi-do Medical Center Suwon Hospital passed away yesterday. The number of patients released from isolation increased by 66, and the number of patients currently isolated and receiving treatment decreased by 23 to 982 compared to the previous day. The cumulative number of confirmed cases in the country rose to 11,914.