New Cases in 500s with 'Holiday Testing Decrease' (Update)

Local Cases 512, Imported Cases 20

On the 18th, citizens are lining up to get tested at the temporary COVID-19 screening clinic set up at Seoul Station Plaza. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ji-hee] On the 19th, the number of new domestic COVID-19 cases dropped to the 500s due to the weekend effect.

The Central Disease Control Headquarters (CDCH) announced that as of midnight on that day, 532 new domestic COVID-19 cases were confirmed, bringing the total to 114,646. Regarding the infection routes, 512 cases were locally transmitted, and 20 cases were imported from overseas.

The number of suspected case tests reported that day was 18,755, and the number of tests conducted at temporary screening clinics in the metropolitan area was 16,069, totaling 34,824 tests. At the metropolitan temporary screening clinics, 171 confirmed cases were identified.

By region, in the metropolitan area, Seoul reported 136 cases, Gyeonggi 142 cases, and Incheon 10 cases. In non-metropolitan areas, confirmed cases surged in Gyeongnam (35), Ulsan (28), Busan (25), Daegu (23), and Daejeon and Gangwon (21 each). Following were Gyeongbuk with 17 cases, Jeonbuk 16, Chungnam 13, Gwangju 11, Chungbuk 9, Jeonnam and Jeju 2 each, and Sejong 1 case.

The cumulative number of COVID-19 deaths increased by 4 from the previous day, reaching 1,801. The number of critically ill patients decreased by 3 to 99. The number of patients who were declared recovered and released from isolation increased by 468 to 104,474.

Meanwhile, the COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team reported that as of midnight on that day, 4,859 people received their first dose, bringing the total number of first-dose recipients to 1,517,390. No new second-dose vaccinations were added, keeping the cumulative total at 60,585. So far, 1,000,258 people have received the AstraZeneca vaccine, and 517,132 have received the Pfizer vaccine.

The number of reported suspected adverse reactions after COVID-19 vaccination increased by 38 from the previous day, totaling 12,229 cases. Among the newly reported adverse reactions, there were no suspected anaphylaxis cases, but 2 suspected severe cases and 2 death cases were included. The rest were mild symptoms such as muscle pain and headache.