As the mandatory COVID-19 quarantine is expected to be shifted to a recommendation, the number of new confirmed cases has recently shown a slight increase.
The Central Disease Control Headquarters announced on the 10th that the weekly new confirmed cases for the first week of May (April 30 to May 6) reached 106,010, a 16.6% increase compared to the previous week (90,898). The 'reproduction number,' which indicates how many people one infected person can infect, rose to 1.09 from 1.05 the previous week. A value above 1 means 'epidemic spread,' and it has remained above 1 for seven consecutive weeks since the fourth week of March (March 19?25).
The health authorities attribute the rise in new confirmed cases to the lifting of the indoor mask mandate and the large temperature differences in the weather.
During the same period, the average daily number of critically ill patients and new deaths decreased by 6.1% and 23.0%, respectively, compared to the previous week, totaling 137 and 7. Among critically ill patients, 85.1% (118 people), and among the deceased, 100% (7 people) were high-risk individuals aged 60 or older. The nationwide intensive care unit bed occupancy rate rose from 34.9% to 38.2%.
However, despite the increase in COVID-19 cases, the health authorities assessed the weekly COVID-19 risk level as 'low' nationwide, in the metropolitan area, and in non-metropolitan areas due to the decrease in critically ill patients and deaths. Since the fourth week of March, the weekly COVID-19 risk level has consistently remained low.
The detection rate of the variant XBB.1.5 decreased by 1.9 percentage points to 25.8% compared to the previous week (27.7%). Meanwhile, XBB.1.9.1, XBB.1.9.2, and XBB.1.16 increased by 2.4, 3.3, and 4.2 percentage points, respectively, within one week. Other variants were detected as follows: XBB 7.5%, BN.1 6.6%, and BA2.75 6.6%.
Meanwhile, the government will announce a daily recovery roadmap on the 11th through the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, lowering the COVID-19 crisis level and changing the 7-day quarantine obligation upon confirmation to a recommendation.
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