New Confirmed Cases 52,788, Up from Last Week... Increase in Severe Cases (Summary)

Gradual Increase Continues... "Epidemic Peak Expected Sooner Than Anticipated"

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] As the number of COVID-19 cases continues to rise gradually, severe cases and deaths are increasing mainly among the elderly.

The Central Disease Control Headquarters announced on the 26th at midnight that the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases increased by 52,788, bringing the total to 26,890,488. The number of new cases decreased by 910 from the previous day (53,698). This reflects a trend of smaller case numbers toward the end of the week.

Compared to a week ago on the 19th (50,589), the number increased by 2,199, showing a steady upward trend. Compared to two weeks ago on the 12th (54,309), it decreased by 1,521.

Although the winter resurgence has fully begun, the number of confirmed cases is not increasing sharply but is either rising gradually or plateauing. Health authorities and experts predict that the peak of this wave may arrive earlier than expected and are closely monitoring the dominance of subvariants from December to January.

Among the new confirmed cases on this day, 62 were imported cases, 23 more than the previous day (39). Domestic community transmission cases numbered 52,726.

The number of confirmed cases by region (including imported cases) is as follows: Gyeonggi 14,716, Seoul 10,161, Incheon 3,133, Busan 2,992, Gyeongnam 2,848, Daegu 2,496, Gyeongbuk 2,626, Chungnam 2,343, Chungbuk 1,767, Jeonbuk 1,677, Gangwon 1,635, Daejeon 1,617, Gwangju 1,604, Jeonnam 1,474, Ulsan 986, Sejong 375, Jeju 314, Quarantine 24.

Although the increase in new confirmed cases has slowed, the number of severe patients and deaths among those hospitalized remains high.

The number of severe cases on this day was 478, an increase of 25 from the previous day (453). It has remained in the 400s for eight consecutive days since the 19th. The number of deaths on the previous day was 52, three fewer than the day before (55). The cumulative number of deaths is 30,330, with a fatality rate of 0.11%.