Severe and Critical Patients Also Increasing... Government Reviewing Additional Measures
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suhwan] As the spread of the fourth wave of COVID-19 in South Korea shows no signs of slowing down, the number of new confirmed cases on the 31st was recorded in the 1,500 range.
The Central Disease Control Headquarters (CDCH) announced that as of midnight on that day, 1,539 new confirmed cases were added, bringing the total to 198,345.
This is 171 fewer than the previous day (1,710), dropping the number to the 1,500 range for now.
The daily confirmed cases have remained in the four-digit range for 25 consecutive days since the 7th of this month (1,212 cases).
Looking at the new confirmed cases over the past week from the 25th of this month to that day, the daily numbers fluctuated between 1,300 and 1,800.
The CDCH also reported that 6 people died from COVID-19 yesterday, bringing the total death toll to 2,095.
The number of critically ill patients totaled 317, an increase of 18 from the previous day (299). This is the first time in 191 days since January 21 (317 patients) that the number of critically ill patients has exceeded 300.
With large-scale new confirmed cases exceeding 1,000 daily, the number of critically ill patients surpassed 200 on the 20th of this month (207 patients) and exceeded 300 again 11 days later.
Given that the highly transmissible Delta variant originating from India has already become the dominant strain domestically, and the peak summer vacation season with high population mobility is underway, the scale of confirmed cases could increase at any time.
It has been about three weeks since the social distancing level in the metropolitan area was raised to the highest level, Level 4, and two weeks since the ban on private gatherings of five or more people was implemented in non-metropolitan areas, but no significant effects have yet appeared, and the government is reviewing additional measures.
Of the new confirmed cases on that day, 1,466 were locally transmitted and 73 were imported cases.
The fourth wave, which began in earnest centered on the metropolitan area this month, has recently spread to various non-metropolitan areas, showing signs of nationwide spread.
Among the regional confirmed cases recorded that day, excluding imported cases, the metropolitan area accounted for 64% of the total new confirmed cases, with Seoul at 468, Gyeonggi at 383, and Incheon at 87.
Non-metropolitan areas reported a total of 528 cases (36.0%), including Gyeongnam 97, Daejeon 86, Busan 69, Chungnam 62, Daegu 43, Gangwon 37, Jeju 26, Gwangju 20, Gyeongbuk 19, Chungbuk 18, Ulsan 16, Sejong and Jeonnam 12 each, and Jeonbuk 11.
The number of confirmed cases in non-metropolitan areas has exceeded 500 for 11 consecutive days since the 21st (550 cases).
The CDCH also reported that 495,353 people completed their first vaccination dose that day, bringing the cumulative total to 19,228,321, which is 37.4% of the total population having received at least one dose.
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