Monday COVID-19 Cases Highest in 17 Weeks... Metropolitan Area Semi-Severe Bed Occupancy Rate Nears 70% (Comprehensive)

New COVID-19 Cases at 55,292, 1.5 Times Higher Than Last Week
Deaths in the Past Week 1.26 Times More Than Previous Week

On the 7th, citizens are waiting for tests at the COVID-19 screening clinic at Songpa-gu Public Health Center in Seoul. The Central Disease Control Headquarters announced that as of midnight on the same day, there were 105,507 new confirmed cases. The number of confirmed cases has exceeded 100,000 for six consecutive days. Photo by Moohonam Munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] As the peak vacation season passes, the number of new COVID-19 cases has again reached a record high even on weekends. With more than 100,000 confirmed cases occurring daily and deaths continuing, hospital beds available for COVID-19 patients are rapidly filling up.

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters on the 8th, as of midnight that day, 55,292 new COVID-19 cases were reported, bringing the total cumulative confirmed cases to 20,544,420.

Due to a decrease in diagnostic testing over the weekend, the number of confirmed cases dropped to about half of the previous day’s figure (105,507), but it is 1.24 times higher than a week ago on the 1st (44,659) and 1.54 times higher compared to two weeks ago on the 25th of last month (35,858). This is the highest number recorded on a Monday in 17 weeks since April 11 (90,912).

Although the 'doubling' phenomenon, where confirmed cases double every week, has slowed, the spread of the outbreak continues. Accordingly, health authorities expect the peak of this summer’s resurgence to be lower than initially predicted, at around 150,000 to 190,000 cases, but the duration of the outbreak is expected to be longer. Even if the peak subsides, the outbreak itself is expected to continue for some time due to the impact of the vacation season. The BA.5 variant, which has become dominant domestically, has a higher immune evasion ability than previous variants, resulting in a higher reinfection rate among previously confirmed COVID-19 patients.

During the past six weekdays, with daily new cases exceeding 100,000, the number of critically ill patients and deaths has also continued to rise.

On this day, the number of critically ill patients hospitalized was 324, an increase of 27 from the previous day. Over the past week from the 2nd, the number of critically ill patients has been recorded as 282 → 284 → 310 → 320 → 313 → 287 → 324. Among the critically ill patients on this day, 278 were aged 60 or older, accounting for 85.8% of the total.

Deaths due to COVID-19 also increased by 2 from the previous day (27) to 29. Among the deceased, 19 (65.5%) were aged 80 or older, 6 (20.7%) were in their 70s, 2 were in their 60s, 1 in their 50s, and 1 in their 40s. The total deaths over the past week (August 2?8) were 224, which is 1.26 times higher than the previous week (178).

The nationwide utilization rate of critical care beds is 40.3% (679 out of 1,686 beds in use), up 5.0 percentage points from the previous day (35.3%). The utilization rate of semi-critical care beds also rose significantly to 62.2% from 54.4% the day before, with the metropolitan area’s semi-critical care bed utilization rate soaring to 67.3%. The utilization rate of moderate care beds nationwide is 45.2%.

To respond to the rapidly increasing demand for testing, health authorities have expanded same-day reservations for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests to nationwide screening clinics and temporary screening centers. Preemptive PCR testing for military enlistees has also resumed after three months, allowing free PCR tests for those enlisting from the 16th onward.

Immunocompromised individuals, such as those with blood cancer, organ transplants, or congenital immunodeficiency who either do not form antibodies well after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine or cannot be vaccinated, can receive the preventive antibody injection 'Evusheld' at over 200 medical institutions nationwide starting today.