COVID-19 New Cases 72,144... 7,602 Fewer Than Previous Day

Passengers are undergoing inspections at the Inspection Center of Terminal 2, Incheon International Airport. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-seop] The number of new COVID-19 cases was recorded at 72,144 as of midnight on the 4th.

According to the statistics on confirmed cases released by the Central Disease Control Headquarters, the number of new cases decreased by 7,602 from 79,746 the previous day. It is 13,089 fewer than 85,233 cases reported a week ago on the 28th of last month, and 38,762 fewer than 110,906 cases reported two weeks ago on the 21st of last month.

Among the new cases, imported cases from overseas also decreased by 82 from 323 the previous day, totaling 241. The government has suspended the requirement for all domestic and foreign nationals entering the country from overseas to submit a negative COVID-19 test certificate prior to entry starting from midnight the previous day. This measure was taken considering that most countries do not require pre-entry testing. Domestic community transmission cases, excluding imported cases, were 71,903.

By region, Gyeonggi had the highest number of new cases at 18,364, followed by Seoul with 11,939. Gyeongnam reported 4,608 new COVID-19 cases, Gyeongbuk 4,425, Daegu 4,272, Incheon 3,978, and Busan 3,685.

However, unlike the decreasing trend in the number of confirmed cases, the number of critically ill patients and deaths remains high. The current number of critically ill patients in hospital is 548, an increase of 28 from 520 the previous day. This marks 12 consecutive days of maintaining the 500s since the 24th of last month. The number of deaths due to COVID-19 the previous day was 79, an increase of 5 from 74 the day before.