Recently, the weekly number of new COVID-19 cases has increased by more than 20% compared to the previous week.
On the 1st, the temporary screening clinic installed at Gwangjin Square in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, is being dismantled as the COVID-19 crisis alert level is downgraded from "Severe" to "Alert." Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@
On the 19th, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency announced that the weekly new cases for the second week of July (9th to 15th) rose by 22.2% from the previous week to 186,953, averaging 26,708 cases per day. The daily average of weekly new cases has remained in the 20,000 range for two consecutive weeks, following 21,857 cases in the previous week. The increase in cases appears to be linked to the lifting of various quarantine measures and the holiday season coinciding.
The 'reproduction number,' which indicates how many people one infected person transmits the virus to, stands at 1.16, exceeding 1 for four consecutive weeks. A reproduction number above 1 means the infection is spreading.
The average daily number of critically ill patients hospitalized was 122, a 4.3% increase from the previous week. The number of new deaths was 43 (an average of 6 per day), up 4.9% from the previous week. The nationwide intensive care unit bed occupancy rate rose by 7.0 percentage points from 21.2% to 28.2%. A health official stated, “Although the ICU bed occupancy rate has increased, it remains below 30%, indicating that beds are still available.”
The weekly COVID-19 risk level has remained 'low' for 26 consecutive weeks since the third week of January.
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