COVID-19 New Cases 451... Drops to 400s for the First Time in 41 Days (Update)

Medical staff are collecting specimens at the temporary screening clinic in Seoul Station Plaza. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] On the 11th, 451 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 were identified in South Korea. This marks the first time in 41 days since December 1 last year, when 451 cases were reported, that the daily cases have dropped to the 400s. The number of daily confirmed cases has remained below 1,000 for seven consecutive days, indicating a slight easing in the spread of the third wave.

The Central Disease Control Headquarters announced that as of midnight on this day, there were 451 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, bringing the total to 69,114. Of these, 419 were locally transmitted and 32 were imported cases.

The daily domestic confirmed cases over the past week from the 1st to this day were 714 → 838 → 869 → 674 → 641 → 664 → 451, consistently staying below 1,000. After maintaining the 600s for three consecutive days until the previous day, the number dropped directly to the 400s, skipping the 500s.

However, this may partly be due to a decrease in the number of tests conducted on the holiday compared to weekdays. The number of tests conducted the previous day was 28,222, which is 5,626 fewer than the 33,848 tests conducted the day before, and about one-third of the approximately 60,000 tests conducted on weekdays. The number of new confirmed cases exceeding 100 has continued for 65 days since November 8 last year.

Among the locally transmitted cases on this day, 137 were in Seoul, 142 in Gyeonggi, and 18 in Incheon, totaling 297 cases in the metropolitan area. Except for Sejong, all other 13 provinces reported cases, with non-metropolitan areas reporting 24 in Gwangju, 16 in Busan, 14 in Ulsan, 13 in Gyeongnam, 10 each in Daegu, Gangwon, and Chungnam, 9 in Chungbuk, 6 in Jeonbuk, 4 in Gyeongbuk, 3 in Jeonnam, 2 in Jeju, and 1 in Daejeon.

Of the 32 imported cases, 11 were detected during quarantine, and the remaining 21 were confirmed in the community. Among them, 17 were Korean nationals and 15 were foreigners.

The death toll increased by 15 from the previous day, reaching a total of 1,140. Among hospitalized patients, the number of critically ill patients decreased by 6 to 395 compared to the previous day. The number of patients who have recovered and been released from isolation increased by 2,143 to 52,552.

Meanwhile, at temporary screening clinics set up in the metropolitan area, 13,821 free anonymous tests were conducted the previous day, and 78 new confirmed cases were identified through tests conducted the day before. Since the 14th of last month, the cumulative number of confirmed cases identified at temporary screening clinics has reached 2,943.