7439 COVID-19 Cases Confirmed by 6 PM... 1570 More Than Previous Day

Over 7,000 Cases for the First Time as of 6 PM
Average Daily Confirmed Cases of 7,129 Over the Past Week Since the 19th

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] The spread of COVID-19 is intensifying further. As of 6 p.m., the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases exceeded 7,000 for the first time.

According to the quarantine authorities, Seoul city, and other local governments on the 25th, a total of 7,439 confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported nationwide across 17 cities and provinces from 12 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the same day. This is the first time since the COVID-19 outbreak that the number of confirmed cases has surpassed 7,000 as of 6 p.m.

The previous highest number of confirmed cases was 5,869, recorded the day before. This means an increase of 1,570 cases in just one day. Compared to 4,256 cases reported at the same time a week ago on the 18th, it increased by 3,183 cases, and compared to 2,675 cases two weeks ago on the 11th, it has nearly tripled.

Over the past week since the 19th, the daily new confirmed cases have been recorded as 5,804 → 6,601 → 6,767 → 7,007 → 7,628 → 7,512 → 8,571. This averages to about 7,127 positive cases per day over the week.

Among the confirmed cases on this day, 3,851 cases (51.8%) occurred in the metropolitan area, and 3,588 cases (48.2%) in non-metropolitan areas. By city and province, the numbers are: Gyeonggi 1,719, Seoul 1,529, Daegu 616, Incheon 603, Busan 553, Gyeongbuk 429, Gwangju 393, Chungnam 360, Daejeon 266, Jeonbuk 218, Gyeongnam 165, Chungbuk 162, Gangwon 144, Jeonnam 130, Ulsan 78, Jeju 47, and Sejong 27.

With the spread of the new COVID-19 variant Omicron, the scale of confirmed cases is expected to continue increasing. According to the 'short-term forecast results' submitted by the Central Disease Control Headquarters to the office of National Assembly member Seo Jeong-sook of the People Power Party, if the transmission rate of the Omicron variant is three times that of the Delta variant, the number of new confirmed cases could reach 27,000 to 36,800 by mid-February. By the end of February, it could increase further to between 79,500 and 122,200 cases.