COVID-19 New Cases Stay in the 600s for Two Consecutive Days... First Dose Vaccination Rate at 29.5%

Citizens who visited the screening clinic set up at Songpa-gu Office in Seoul on the 23rd are waiting to get tested. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] The number of new COVID-19 cases in South Korea has remained in the 600s for two consecutive days. The number of people who have completed the first dose of vaccination has reached 15.15 million, raising the vaccination rate to 29.5% of the population.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) Central Disease Control Headquarters reported on the 24th at midnight that the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases increased by 610 from the previous day to 153,155. Of the new cases, 576 were locally transmitted and 34 were imported.

About 80% of the locally transmitted cases occurred in the Seoul metropolitan area. There were 251 cases (43.6%) in Seoul, 184 cases (31.9%) in Gyeonggi, and 15 cases (2.6%) in Incheon, totaling 450 cases in the metropolitan area.

Other regions reported the following cases: 28 in Gyeongbuk, 22 in Gyeongnam, 16 in Busan, 15 in Daejeon, 11 in Ulsan, 7 in Chungnam, 6 in Jeonbuk, 5 in Gangwon, 5 in Chungbuk, 3 in Daegu, 3 in Jeonnam, 3 in Jeju, 1 in Gwangju, and 1 in Sejong.

There were 34 imported cases. Among them, 19 were detected during quarantine, and 15 were confirmed in the community. Fourteen were Korean nationals and 20 were foreigners.

The total number of tests conducted the previous day was 60,109. At temporary screening clinics set up in the metropolitan area, 28,282 tests were conducted, confirming 114 new cases. In non-metropolitan temporary screening clinics, 2,994 tests were conducted, confirming 4 new cases.

The number of patients who have recovered and been released from isolation increased by 409 to 144,788. Among hospitalized patients, the number of critically ill patients decreased by 5 to 141. The death toll rose by 1 to 2,008.

On the 22nd, vaccination procedures are underway at the vaccination center in Dongjak-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Meanwhile, as of midnight on the same day, 28,485 people received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, bringing the total number of first-dose recipients to 15,151,121. Among them, 10,384,423 received the AstraZeneca (AZ) vaccine, 3,636,252 received the Pfizer vaccine, 4,085 received the Moderna vaccine, and 1,125,361 received the Janssen vaccine. The vaccination rate relative to the population is 29.5%.

The number of people who have completed vaccination increased by 119,117 from the previous day to 4,413,494. The second-dose vaccination rate relative to the population is 8.6%. An additional 14,805 people received the AZ vaccine, bringing the total to 872,819 who have completed vaccination. An additional 103,284 people received the Pfizer vaccine, bringing the total to 2,415,314 who have completed vaccination. There were no additional completions for the Moderna vaccine yet, and the Janssen vaccine, developed as a single-dose vaccine, counts all first-dose recipients as fully vaccinated.