433 New COVID-19 Cases Nationwide by 6 PM... "Mid-500s Expected Tomorrow"

312 Cases in the Seoul Metropolitan Area Including 179 in Seoul, 116 in Gyeonggi, 17 in Incheon... 121 Cases Outside the Capital Region
Weekend Testing Decrease Impact... Midterm Tally Shows Fewer Confirmed Cases
'Social Distancing' Key Indicator... 'Daily Average Local Cases' at 579

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Junhyung Lee] On the 10th, COVID-19 cases continued to be confirmed nationwide amid the spread of the virus.

According to health authorities, Seoul city, and other local governments, from midnight to 6 p.m. on that day, a total of 433 new confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported nationwide.

This is 127 fewer than the 560 cases recorded at the same time the previous day. This appears to partly reflect a decrease in testing over the weekend.

By region, 312 cases (72.1%) were in the Seoul metropolitan area, and 121 cases (27.9%) were in non-metropolitan areas. By city and province, Seoul reported 179 cases, Gyeonggi 116, Busan 42, Incheon 17, Gyeongnam 16, Gyeongbuk 13, Jeonbuk 12, Ulsan 10, Chungbuk 8, Daejeon 7, Daegu 4, and Gangwon, Jeonnam, and Jeju each reported 3 cases. Among the 17 cities and provinces nationwide, no cases have yet been reported in Gwangju, Sejong, and Chungnam.

Since there is still time until midnight when the tally closes, the number of new confirmed cases announced at midnight on the 11th is expected to increase further, reaching the mid-500s. On the previous day, 117 additional cases were reported after 6 p.m., bringing the final total to 677.

New confirmed cases have fluctuated between 300 and 400 for over a month, recently rising to between 500 and 600, and then increasing to the 700 range. Over the past week, the daily new confirmed cases were 543 → 473 → 477 → 668 → 700 → 671 → 677, averaging 601 cases per day.

The key indicator for adjusting the 'social distancing' level, the daily average of locally transmitted cases, stands at 579. This exceeds the range for social distancing level 2.5 (nationwide 400?500 or more cases).

Major confirmed cases have occurred in various places such as academies, churches, and saunas. New infection cases include the third sauna case in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul (cumulative 16 cases), a practical music academy in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi (19 cases), family-church cluster in Iksan-si, Jeonbuk (17 cases), church cluster in Gyeongsan-si, Gyeongbuk (14 cases), and the second elderly day care center case in Gimhae-si, Gyeongnam (21 cases).

Regarding existing infection cases, the total confirmed cases related to a Busan entertainment bar have increased to 362, and those related to academies in Dong-gu and Jung-gu, Daejeon, have risen to 92.