New Confirmed Cases 16,423... Lowest Tuesday Count in 14 Weeks (Update)

353 Critically Ill Patients · 19 Deaths

On the 3rd, the screening clinic set up at Yongsan-gu Public Health Center in Seoul showed a quiet scene as 12,150 new COVID-19 cases were reported, marking the lowest Monday count in 13 weeks. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] The number of new COVID-19 cases fell to the lowest level in about three months on a Tuesday, with cases in the 10,000 range.

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters on the 4th, 16,423 new COVID-19 cases were added that day, bringing the total cumulative cases to 24,848,184. Among these, 16,317 were domestic cases, and 106 were imported cases.

The number of new cases on this day was the lowest on a Tuesday in 14 weeks since June 28 (9,889 cases). It decreased by 22,987 cases compared to a week earlier on the 27th of last month. However, it increased by 4,273 cases compared to the previous day, which was a holiday following the weekend.

It remains uncertain whether the number of new cases will drop below 10,000. Short-term forecasts from seven research teams between the 21st and 23rd of last month mostly predicted that 16,000 to 31,000 new cases would occur 2 to 4 weeks later. The last time new cases fell below 10,000 was on July 4 (6,242 cases).

The number of critically ill patients currently hospitalized is 353, down by 8 from the previous day. The number of critically ill patients has remained in the 300s for a week since the 28th of last month. The nationwide critical care bed occupancy rate is 20.5%, with 21.2% in the metropolitan area and 18.8% in non-metropolitan areas.

The number of COVID-19 deaths as of midnight that day was 19, one fewer than the previous day. By age group, those aged 80 and above accounted for the most at 12, followed by 3 in their 70s, and 2 each in their 60s and 50s. The cumulative death toll stands at 28,528, with a fatality rate of 0.11%.

The number of confirmed cases currently under home treatment is 144,506, a decrease of 20,447 from the previous day.

For the winter vaccination campaign using the bivalent vaccine targeting the Omicron variant, 58,067 new reservations were made the previous day. The reservation rate among the vaccination target group aged 60 and above is 1.9%.