“The National Foundation Day Hangeul Day holiday is just around the corner”… 2771 new confirmed cases, the second in history [종합]

As the spread of the new coronavirus infection (COVID-19) in Korea is getting stronger, the number of new confirmed cases on the 26th recorded the second highest in history even though it was a weekend.

This is due to the fact that the ‘delta-type’ mutation from India, which has stronger transmission power, has established itself as the dominant species, and the amount of movement has increased due to the combination of the summer and Chuseok holidays.

Next month, there are two three-day holidays on National Foundation Day and Hangeul Day, raising concerns that the number of new confirmed cases may increase.

According to the Central Quarantine Countermeasures Headquarters (Bangdaebon), there were 2,771 new confirmed cases as of 00:00 that day. The cumulative number of confirmed cases has risen to 301,172. It is the first time in a year and eight months since the first confirmed case in Korea on January 20, last year, that the cumulative number of confirmed cases in Korea exceeded 300,000.

The number of new confirmed cases fell by 501 from the previous day (3272), which was the highest since the domestic Corona 19 crisis, and fell below 3,000. However, it is still the second largest, 862 more than the 1,099 people on Saturday (18th, 00:00 on the 19th) a week ago.

The number of confirmed cases per day has been in the four digits for 82 days in a row since July 7 (1211 people). If you look at the number of new confirmed cases in the past week from the 20th to this day, 1604 → 1729 → 1720 → 1715 → 2431 → 3272 → 2,771 people per day. The average daily number of confirmed cases is 2178.

If you look at the routes of infection of the new confirmed cases on this day, 2,735 cases were local and 36 were imported. Among the local confirmed cases, the metropolitan area accounted for 73.6% of the total with 2014 cases. In the non-metropolitan area, a total of 721 (26.4%), including 143 in Daegu, 85 in Gyeongbuk, and 74 in Chungnam.

The death toll increased by nine from the previous day, bringing the total to 2,450. The national average fatality rate is 0.81%. There were a total of 320 patients with severe cases, a decrease of 19 from the previous day (339).

The number of tests for suspected patients at the screening clinic on the previous day was 4598, which is 23,060 fewer than the 63,658 the previous day. Separately, a total of 123,680 tests were conducted at temporary screening centers across the country.

So far, a total of 14,325,938 cases of COVID-19 diagnostic tests have been conducted at domestic regular screening clinics.

As of 00:00 on the same day, the cumulative positive rate in Korea was 2.10% (301,172 out of 14,325,938).

The vaccination rate for COVID-19 is approaching 75%. According to the Corona 19 Prevention Promotion Committee, as of 00:00 on the same day, the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine in Korea was 74.1% of the population. If you narrow it down to those over 18, the primary vaccination rate rises to 86.2%. A total of 23,213,814 people who completed the second inoculation were vaccinated, and the inoculation rate was 45.2%.

[신미진 매경닷컴 기자]
[ⓒ 매일경제 & mk.co.kr, 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]