On the 21st, as the spread of COVID-19 continues, citizens are waiting for testing at the temporary screening clinic in the public parking lot of Sinchon Train Station, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@
[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] As the spread of COVID-19 in South Korea intensifies, new confirmed cases have surged across the country on the 21st.
According to health authorities, Seoul city, and other local governments, from midnight to 9 p.m. on the same day, a total of 1,456 new COVID-19 positive cases were reported nationwide.
This is 225 fewer than the 1,681 cases recorded at the same time the previous day, but when adding 270 confirmed cases from the Cheonghae Unit not included in this count, the total rises to 1,726, marking the highest number as of 9 p.m.
Among the 301 members of the 34th Cheonghae Unit, who were deployed to the Gulf of Aden and returned early due to a cluster infection, 247 tested positive locally, and an additional 23 were confirmed positive through PCR tests conducted after their return.
Looking at the regions where cases were reported on this day, 953 cases (65.5%) were from the Seoul metropolitan area, and 503 cases (34.5%) were from non-metropolitan areas.
The number of confirmed cases by city and province is as follows: Seoul 490, Gyeonggi 336, Incheon 127, Busan 100, Daejeon 77, Gyeongnam 76, Gangwon 43, Chungnam 39, Daegu 37, Gyeongbuk 29, Ulsan 25, Jeju 24, Chungbuk 23, Jeonnam 15, Gwangju 9, Jeonbuk 4, Sejong 2. Confirmed cases were reported in all 17 cities and provinces nationwide.
Since there is still time until midnight when the tally closes, the number of new confirmed cases announced at midnight on the 22nd is expected to increase to around 1,800, possibly reaching the low to mid-1,800s.
Meanwhile, the fourth wave of the pandemic, which began centered in the Seoul metropolitan area, is recently spreading to non-metropolitan regions.
In the 9 p.m. tally, non-metropolitan confirmed cases surpassed 500 for the second consecutive day, following the first time reaching the 500s (521 cases) since the start of the fourth wave.
The daily number of confirmed cases has remained in the four digits since the 7th (1,212 cases), marking the 16th consecutive day as of the 22nd.
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