Authorities Confirm 1,440 New Daily Cases of COVID-19: 70% of the Population Expected to Be Fully Vaccinated as Early as Tomorrow

[경향신문]

On October 21, an official is on duty at a screening clinic at the Songpa-gu Public Health Center in Seoul. Yonhap News

The Central Disease Control Headquarters announced that as of midnight October 22, they have confirmed 1,440 new cases of COVID-19 from the previous day.

Among the new cases, 1,420 were locally transmitted and 20 entered from overseas. A regional analysis showed that 80.6% (1,145) of the cases occurred in the Seoul metropolitan area--513 cases in Seoul, 512 in Gyeonggi, and 120 in Incheon. Authorities also confirmed 44 cases in Busan, 21 in Daegu, 3 in Gwangju, 5 in Daejeon, 2 in Ulsan, 1 in Sejong, 18 in Gangwon, 40 in Chungcheongbuk-do, 27 in Chungcheongnam-do, 16 in Jeollabuk-do, 15 in Jeollanam-do, 44 in Gyeongsangbuk-do, 33 in Gyeongsangnam-do, and 6 in Jeju.

Sixteen more people died from COVID-19 pushing the total up to 2,725 deaths (fatality rate 0.78%). There were 342 patients in critical or serious condition, seven fewer than the previous day. At present, 25,927 people are in quarantine. Since the first case of the novel coronavirus was confirmed in South Korea in January 2020, authorities have confirmed a total of 348,969 cases in the nation.

By midnight this day, 40,644,903 people have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, after 58,594 people received their first shots the previous day. This means 79.2% of the population has received at least one dose of the vaccine. People who are fully vaccinated, referring to those who have received all the recommended doses of the vaccine, increased by 405,795 to reach a total of 35,003,778 (68.2% of the population). The government expects more than 70% of the population to be fully vaccinated as early as October 23. The government had stated that 70% of the population had to be fully vaccinated for the nation to take gradual steps toward restoring normalcy.