New COVID-19 Cases Remain in the 500s for Third Day... 70,000 Additional First Dose Vaccinations (Update)

Confirmed Cases Reported Nationwide
Severe and Critical Patients Increase by 16 in One Day

On the 3rd, medical staff at Yongsan-gu Public Health Center in Seoul are preparing to administer the AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ji-hee] The number of new COVID-19 cases in South Korea has remained in the 500s for three consecutive days.

The Central Disease Control Headquarters (CDCH) announced on the 25th at midnight that the number of new COVID-19 cases in the country increased by 516, bringing the total to 136,983. Of these, 481 cases were locally transmitted, and 35 were imported. There were 39,114 suspected case tests, 40,387 tests conducted at temporary screening clinics in the metropolitan area, and 6,272 tests at temporary screening clinics outside the metropolitan area, totaling over 80,000 tests. At the temporary screening clinics in the metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas, 60 and 9 confirmed cases were identified, respectively.

By region, 137 cases were reported in Seoul, 132 in Gyeonggi, and 11 in Incheon, totaling 280 cases in the metropolitan area. Outside the metropolitan area, cases were evenly distributed nationwide, including 27 in Daegu, 21 in Gwangju, 20 each in Chungnam and Gangwon, 17 in Jeju, 16 in Busan, 15 in Daejeon, 14 in Sejong, 13 in Gyeongnam, 11 in Gyeongbuk, 8 in Chungbuk, 7 each in Ulsan and Jeonnam, and 5 in Jeonbuk.

The cumulative number of COVID-19 deaths increased by 4 from the previous day, reaching 1,938. The number of critically ill patients increased by 16 to 160. The number of patients who were declared recovered and released from isolation increased by 566, totaling 126,993.

The COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team reported that as of midnight on the same day, 173,169 people were newly vaccinated in one day. The number of new first-dose vaccinations increased by 71,292, bringing the total to 3,864,784, and 101,877 people received their second dose, bringing the total number of completed vaccinations to 1,850,669. The vaccination rate relative to the population is 7.5% for the first dose and 3.6% for completed vaccinations.

Among the new first-dose vaccinations, 3,319 received the AstraZeneca vaccine, and 67,973 received the Pfizer vaccine.