SEOUL, South Korea’s new coronavirus cases are expected to rise to the 2,400s, staying above 2,000 for a fifth day, on Sunday, with new cases soaring in the greater Seoul area on Saturday.
As of 9 p.m. 2,262 new cases were reported across the country, up 110 from the previous day and up 360 from the same time a week ago.
Of the total, 1,883 or 83.2 percent were reported in the greater Seoul area, while 379 were reported in other areas.
The figures were tallied by local governments and health authorities, excluding the southeastern city of Busan, which stopped releasing real-time data.
New cases are counted until midnight and announced the following morning.
The country reported 2,325 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, raising the total caseload to 393,042, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
The daily caseload has stayed in the quadruple digits since July 7, including the record high of 3,272 cases on Sept. 25.
Of the total, 2,311 were local infections. Fourteen cases came from overseas, bringing the total of such cases to 15,352, the KDCA said.
The country added 32 more deaths from COVID-19, the highest figure since the fourth wave of the pandemic began in July, raising the death toll to 3,083. The fatality rate stood at 0.78 percent.
Given the increasing number of serious cases, the daily death toll particularly among infected patients aged 60 years old or more may rise further.
The number of patients in critical condition hit a record high of 485 after jumping to over 400 last Saturday for the first time since end-August, the health agency said.
The government has said it can manage up to 500 critically ill COVID-19 patients in a stable manner but the 500 mark is just around the corner.
Moreover, about half of new COVID-19 cases in the country over the past two weeks were breakthrough infections. Breakthrough infections mean positive cases among fully vaccinated people.
There have been growing concerns over a further uptick in the daily caseload and serious cases, as the country began easing virus curbs this month in the first of the three-phase “living with COVID-19” scheme for a gradual return to normalcy.
Under the first phase, people are allowed to gather in groups of up to 10, regardless of vaccinations. Operation hour curfews for businesses that cover restaurants, cafes and movie theaters are fully lifted, except for adult entertainment facilities, such as clubs and bars.
But health authorities said the country is not likely to move to the second phase of the “living with COVID-19” scheme if the current trend continues.
As of 12 a.m. Saturday, 41.83 million people, or 81.6 percent of the country’s 52 million population, had received their first COVID-19 vaccine shots since February, when the country began its inoculation campaign. The number of fully vaccinated people reached 39.99 million, or 77.9 percent, according to the agency.
The number of fully inoculated people exceeded 40 million, or 78.1 percent, as of Saturday afternoon.
The KDCA expected full vaccination rates to reach 80 percent around mid-December.
Of the locally transmitted cases, Seoul reported 1,001 cases, with the surrounding Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, west of Seoul, logging 644 and 165 cases, respectively.
Of the 14 inbound cases, cases from Asian countries except for China stood at eight, with three cases from the United States, two from Europe and one from Colombia.
Source: Yonhap News Agency