Global COVID-19 Cases Surpass 200 Million... Domestic Cases Surge Again

1725 New Domestic Cases... 628 in Non-Capital Areas 'Highest Since 4th Wave'

On the 4th, 1,725 new COVID-19 cases were reported, returning to the 1,700 range after five days. Citizens visiting the temporary screening clinic set up at Seoul Station Plaza are waiting to be tested. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporters Hyun-ui Cho, Chun-hee Lee] The global cumulative number of COVID-19 cases has surpassed 200 million. This comes 1 year and 7 months after the first patient was reported in Wuhan, China. In South Korea, as the previously subdued spread intensifies again, attention is focused on whether social distancing measures will be further strengthened.

According to the international statistics site Worldometer as of 7:30 a.m. on the 4th, the global cumulative confirmed cases exceeded 200.18 million, and cumulative deaths surpassed 4.25 million. The rate of increase in confirmed cases shows that it took about 6 months to surpass 200 million after exceeding 100 million on January 26, which was 1 year and 1 month after the first patient was reported. This is analyzed to be due to the spread of variant viruses that have higher transmissibility than the original virus and may reduce vaccine effectiveness.

The cumulative confirmed cases in the three countries of the United States (36.02 million), India (31.77 million), and Brazil (19.99 million) accounted for a large portion, totaling 87.78 million (44%). Russia and France are in the 6 million range, the United Kingdom and Turkey in the 5 million range, and Argentina, Colombia, Spain, and Italy are in the 4 million range.

In South Korea, the cumulative confirmed cases as of midnight on the same day stood at 203,928, but the recent rate of increase is quite steep. Especially with the '4th wave' intensifying, more than 40,000 cases were confirmed just last month.

As the number of diagnostic tests decreased over the weekend, the so-called 'weekend effect,' where confirmed cases drop significantly on Monday and Tuesday, disappeared, and new confirmed cases rose by 523 from the previous day (1,202) to 1,725. In particular, the number of locally transmitted cases outside the metropolitan area reached 628, the highest since the start of the 4th wave. Confirmed cases in the Busan and Gyeongnam regions recorded triple digits for the first time in 10 days, and metropolitan area cases again exceeded 1,000.

However, this is 170 fewer than last Wednesday (1,895), which set a record high. The weekly average of locally transmitted cases, a key indicator for adjusting social distancing levels, surged to 1,521.1 on the 30th of last month but decreased to 1,444.4 as of this day.