New Confirmed Cases 151,792, Highest Overseas Inflow... 402 Critical Cases (Update)

On the 10th, as the spread of COVID-19 continued, citizens were getting tested at the screening clinic of Yongsan-gu Public Health Center in Seoul. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency Central Disease Control Headquarters announced that as of midnight, there were 151,792 new confirmed cases. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] As the number of new COVID-19 cases exceeded 150,000 for the first time during this resurgence, the number of imported cases reached a record high of 615. The number of critically ill patients hospitalized surpassed 400 for the first time in 92 days.

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters on the 10th, as of midnight, 151,792 new COVID-19 cases were reported, bringing the total cumulative cases to 20,845,973.

This is the first time in about four months since April 13 that daily cases have exceeded 150,000. The number of new cases is 1.27 times that of a week ago (119,889) and increased by 1,895 compared to the previous day.

Among the new cases, 615 were imported, the highest number since COVID-19 first appeared in Korea in January 2020. The health authorities cited the increase in travel during the vacation season as the reason for the recent rise in COVID-19 cases during yesterday’s regular briefing.

The number of critically ill patients hospitalized increased by 38 from the previous day to 402. This is the first time since May 10 (421 patients) that the number has risen to the 400s. The nationwide critical care bed occupancy rate is 37.8%, with 36.4% in the metropolitan area and 41.0% in non-metropolitan areas. The semi-critical care bed occupancy rate is 58.1% nationwide, and moderate care beds are at 44.8% occupancy.

As of midnight, 50 new deaths were reported. By age group, 35 were aged 85 or older, 7 in their 70s, 4 in their 60s, 3 in their 50s, and 1 in their 40s. The cumulative death toll is 25,382, with a fatality rate of 0.12%.

With the increase in cases, the number of patients receiving home treatment rose to the 60,000s on this day. An additional 151,709 new home treatment cases were added the previous day, bringing the total number of patients currently under home treatment to 639,166. Since the classification of the intensive management group was abolished starting from tests conducted on the 1st, the number of patients under health monitoring by medical institutions in the intensive management group became zero from this day.

The preventive injection 'Evusheld,' for severely immunocompromised patients, was administered to 9 people the previous day, bringing the total number of recipients to 28. The cumulative number of injection reservations is 1,015.