Death Toll 72 · Critically Ill 432
On the first day of outdoor mask mandate lifting, the 2nd, citizens are moving through the streets of Myeongdong, Seoul. The government judged that the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases, critically ill patients, and deaths are clearly decreasing, and the medical system is relatively stable, so from this day onward, the obligation to wear masks outdoors has been lifted. However, the obligation to wear masks remains for gatherings of 50 or more people, events, performances, and sports game viewings where crowd density is high and there is a risk of droplet spread due to shouting. / Photo by Moon Honam munonam@
[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] As the Omicron variant wave in South Korea shows a clear decline, the number of new COVID-19 cases has dropped to the 40,000 range.
According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters on the 4th, as of midnight that day, the number of new confirmed cases increased by 49,064 from the previous day, bringing the total cumulative confirmed cases to 17,395,791.
The number of new confirmed cases on this day decreased by 2,067 compared to the previous day (51,131) and by 27,711 compared to a week ago on the 27th of last month (76,775). Compared to two weeks ago on April 20th (111,295), it is less than half.
This is the first time in 12 weeks since February 9th (49,545) that the number of confirmed cases announced on a Wednesday has been below 50,000.
The number of critically ill patients recorded on this day was 432, which is 15 more than the previous day (417), but it has remained in the 400s for five consecutive days since the 30th of last month (490).
The nationwide severe bed occupancy rate was 23.9% as of midnight that day (603 out of 2,524 beds in use), down 1.3 percentage points from the previous day (25.2%). The occupancy rate of semi-severe beds, which treat patients who are either improving from severe conditions or at high risk of worsening to severe, was 28.8%.
The number of home treatment patients staying at home without hospitalization was 268,192, among whom 23,215 are in the intensive management group receiving health monitoring from home treatment management medical institutions.
The number of COVID-19 deaths reported the previous day was 72, an increase of 23 from the day before (49). By age group, those aged 80 and above accounted for the most with 50 deaths (69.4%), followed by 8 in their 70s, 9 in their 60s, 3 in their 50s, 1 in their 20s, and 1 aged 0-9. The total cumulative deaths stand at 23,079, with a cumulative COVID-19 fatality rate of 0.13%.
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