On the morning of the 15th, citizens are waiting for testing at the Mapo-gu Office screening clinic. (Photo by Yonhap News)
[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Tae-min] As the scale of the COVID-19 outbreak continues to decline, the number of new confirmed cases dropped to the 30,000 range on the 18th.
According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters, as of midnight on this day, 34,764 new COVID-19 cases were reported, bringing the cumulative total to 24,394,466. This is 8,693 fewer cases than the previous day’s 43,457.
Although this is 6,564 more than the 28,200 cases reported a week ago on the 11th, it is analyzed that a simple comparison is meaningless since the number of diagnostic tests was lower due to the Chuseok holiday period. Compared to two weeks ago on the 4th (72,122 cases), it is 37,358 fewer cases. This represents a reduction to about half, showing a clear downward trend.
From the 12th to this day, the daily new confirmed cases over one week were 36,925 → 57,291 → 93,967 → 71,471 → 51,874 → 43,457 → 34,764, with a daily average of 55,674 cases.
Imported cases were 241, which is 39 fewer than the previous day (280). After dropping from the 300s to the 200s the day before, the number has remained in the 200s for two consecutive days. Domestic community transmission cases excluding imported cases were 34,523.
New confirmed cases by region (including imported cases) were: Gyeonggi 9,018, Seoul 5,970, Gyeongnam 2,250, Incheon 2,086, Gyeongbuk 2,174, Daegu 2,021, Busan 1,593, Chungnam 1,511, Jeonbuk 1,363, Chungbuk 1,253, Gangwon 1,083, Jeonnam 1,079, Daejeon 1,004, Gwangju 1,108, Ulsan 654, Jeju 270, Sejong 290, and quarantine 37.
As of midnight, the number of critically ill patients was 489, 12 more than the previous day (477). The number of deaths due to COVID-19 the previous day was 46, 11 fewer than the day before (57). Among the deceased, 24 (52.2%) were aged 80 or older, 14 were in their 70s, and 6 were in their 60s. The cumulative death toll is 27,828, with a cumulative fatality rate of 0.11%.
As of 5 p.m. the previous day, the bed occupancy rates were 28.8% for critically ill beds (532 used out of 1,846), 38.3% for semi-critical beds, and 23.9% for moderate beds.
As of midnight, the number of confirmed cases under home treatment was 336,844, an increase of 68 from the previous day (336,776).
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