9 PM Confirmed Cases 21,952, Up from Last Week... Tomorrow Marks 1,000 Days of COVID Occurrence

On the 20th, as the number of new COVID-19 cases decreased to 47,917, the Gwanak-gu Public Health Center in Seoul showed a quiet scene. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] As of 9 PM on the 14th, the number of new COVID-19 cases nationwide reached the low 20,000s. This figure shows a slight increase compared to a week ago.

According to Seoul and other local governments, from midnight to 9 PM on the same day, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases across cities and provinces nationwide was 21,952. Of these, 12,353 cases (56.3%) were reported in the metropolitan area, and 9,599 cases (43.7%) in non-metropolitan areas.

The number of confirmed cases as of 9 PM was 671 fewer than the same time the previous day (22,623), but 3,559 more than a week ago on the 7th (18,393). The current sixth wave peaked in August and had been declining since early September, but recently the decline has stalled and cases have rebounded compared to the previous week.

Son Young-rae, head of the Social Strategy Division at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, said at the regular briefing that "the downward trend in the outbreak has temporarily paused, and the situation this week compared to last week has entered a stagnation phase," adding, "We need to observe changes until next week to make a proper judgment."

Considering that additional cases will be reported until the midnight cutoff for data collection, the number of new confirmed cases announced on the 15th is expected to be in the low to mid 20,000s. The 15th marks 1,000 days since the first COVID-19 patient was confirmed in South Korea on January 20, 2020.

So far, nearly half of the domestic population has been infected with COVID-19. As of midnight on this day, the cumulative number of confirmed cases reached 25,076,239, which accounts for 48.6% of this year’s estimated domestic population of 51,628,117 according to Statistics Korea.

Domestic experts estimate that there are a significant number of "hidden infections"?people infected with COVID-19 who did not get tested?so it is presumed that more than half of the population has been infected with COVID-19.