[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Junhyung] On the 22nd, due to the spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant, the number of new confirmed cases in South Korea exceeded 7,000. The figure of 7,000 is the government's threshold for switching COVID-19 prevention measures to the 'Omicron Response Prevention and Medical System.'
The Central Disease Control Headquarters announced that as of midnight on that day, there were 7,009 new confirmed COVID-19 cases. The cumulative number of confirmed cases reached 726,274.
The number of new confirmed cases increased by 240 from the previous day (6,769). It rose back to the 7,000 range for the first time in a month since the 22nd of last month (7,454). The new cases on this day were 2,590 more than 4,419 cases reported a week earlier on the 15th, and 3,502 more than 3,507 cases reported two weeks earlier on the 7th.
With new confirmed cases surpassing 7,000, COVID-19 prevention measures are expected to shift to the Omicron Response Prevention and Medical System. In four regions where the Omicron variant has already become dominant?Gwangju, Jeonnam, Pyeongtaek, and Anseong?preemptive measures will begin from the 26th of this month, including limiting COVID-19 PCR testing to high-risk groups such as close contacts and elderly people aged 60 and above.
The quarantine period for fully vaccinated individuals will be shortened from the current 10 days to 7 days starting on the 26th. The government plans to decide the timing of the transition to the Omicron prevention system after these preemptive measures.
On this day, the number of critically ill patients was 433, an increase of 2 from the previous day (431). This marks the third consecutive day with numbers in the 400s. As of 5 p.m. on the 21st, 451 out of 2,208 COVID-19 severe care beds nationwide were in use. The utilization rate of severe care beds was 20.4%, down 1.5 percentage points from 21.9% the previous day. Health authorities anticipate that the rate of critically ill patients will increase again after a 2 to 3 week delay. This is due to the rapid increase in confirmed cases caused by the spread of the Omicron variant.
The number of deaths increased by 28, bringing the total cumulative deaths to 6,529. The cumulative fatality rate stands at 0.9%. Regarding the infection routes of new confirmed cases, 6,729 were from local transmission and 280 were imported cases.
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