4,415 New COVID-19 Cases by 6 PM... 367 Fewer Than Previous Day

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] As the COVID-19 Omicron variant rapidly spreads, the total number of confirmed cases testing positive for COVID-19 nationwide in 17 cities and provinces from midnight to 6 p.m. on the 23rd was recorded at 4,415.

This is 376 fewer than the 4,791 cases recorded at the same time the previous day. However, compared to 2,471 cases recorded at the same time a week ago on the 16th, it increased by 1,944, and compared to 2,341 cases two weeks ago on the 9th, it increased by 2,074.

The number of new confirmed cases, which had been declining since late last month, has turned to an upward trend recently due to the spread of the Omicron variant. Since there is still time until midnight when the tally closes, the number of new confirmed cases to be announced on the 24th is expected to exceed the interim tally.

On this day, new confirmed cases were 2,197 (49.8%) in the metropolitan area and 2,218 (50.2%) in non-metropolitan areas. This is the first time since the 4th wave that began in early July last year that the number of confirmed cases in non-metropolitan areas exceeded those in the metropolitan area based on the 6 p.m. tally.

Confirmed cases were reported in all 17 cities and provinces. By region, Gyeonggi had 1,235 cases, Seoul 664, Daegu 487, Incheon 298, Busan 296, Gwangju 265, Gyeongbuk 225, Jeonbuk 135, Jeonnam 122, Chungnam 177, Gyeongnam 160, Chungbuk 112, Daejeon 110, Gangwon 94, Jeju 15, Sejong 12, and Ulsan 8.

From the 17th, the number of new confirmed cases for one week at midnight was 3,857 on the 17th, 4,070 on the 18th, 5,804 on the 19th, 6,601 on the 20th, 6,767 on the 21st, 7,008 on the 22nd, and 7,630 on the 23rd, averaging 5,962 cases per day.