[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] On Sunday the 31st, approximately 73,000 new COVID-19 cases were reported nationwide. While the resurgence of COVID-19 continues, the rate of increase in new cases has somewhat slowed, but the number of critically ill patients has shown a 'doubling' trend, nearly doubling within a week.
The Central Disease Control Headquarters announced that as of midnight, 73,589 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed, bringing the total to 19,776,050. The number of new cases was 8,413 fewer than the previous day (82,002), but it was 1.12 times higher than a week ago on the 24th and 1.82 times higher than two weeks ago on the 17th. Among the new cases, 341 were imported, which is 56 fewer than the previous day.
The number of new cases showed a rapid increase with doubling continuing until mid-month, but since mid-last week, the rate of increase has slowed, with the weekly ratio gradually approaching 1. From the 25th to today, the average daily new cases were 80,664.
Excluding imported cases, domestic community infections numbered 73,248. The number of cases by region (including imported cases) were: Gyeonggi 18,589, Seoul 14,149, Gyeongbuk 4,145, Gyeongnam 3,973, Incheon 3,951, Busan 3,836, Chungnam 3,250, Jeonbuk 3,010, Chungbuk 2,543, Daegu 2,506, Gangwon 2,475, Daejeon 2,418, Gwangju 2,284, Jeonnam 2,195, Ulsan 2,070, Jeju 1,583, Sejong 588, and quarantine 24.
The number of critically ill patients increased by 42 from the previous day to 284. This is 1.94 times the number from a week ago on the 24th and four times that of two weeks ago on the 17th, marking the highest count in 74 days since May 18 (313 patients). Approximately 81% of critically ill patients are elderly aged 60 or older. Nationwide bed occupancy rates were 28.6% for critical care beds, 49.6% for semi-critical care beds, and 37.4% for moderate care beds. The semi-critical care bed occupancy rate in the metropolitan area exceeded 50%, reaching 52.9%. As of midnight, 490,036 confirmed patients were under home treatment, an increase of 24,409 from the previous day.
The number of COVID-19 deaths reported the previous day was 20, with a cumulative death toll of 25,047 and a cumulative fatality rate of 0.13%.
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