Record-breaking 4,116 New Daily Cases of COVID-19 and 586 Patients in Critical Condition

[경향신문]

On November 23, citizens stand in a long line waiting to get tested at a temporary screening clinic installed in the plaza in front of Seoul City Hall. Kang Yoon-joong

The daily number of new COVID-19 cases surpassed 4,000 for the first time. Nearly 600 patients were in serious condition, and 35 people died from the virus in just one day.

The Central Disease Control Headquarters announced that as of midnight November 24, they have confirmed 4,116 new cases of the novel coronavirus from the previous day. Among them, 4,088 cases contracted the virus in the local community while 28 cases entered the country from overseas. A regional analysis showed that 76.7% (3,135 cases) of the cases occurred in the greater Seoul area with 1,730 cases confirmed in Seoul, 1,184 cases in Gyeonggi, and 221 in Incheon. Authorities also confirmed 118 cases in Busan, 78 in Daegu, 45 in Gwangju, 51 in Daejeon, 11 in Ulsan, 7 in Sejong, 62 in Gangwon, 40 in Chungcheongbuk-do, 291 in Chungcheongnam-do, 34 in Jeollabuk-do, 52 in Jeollanam-do, 65 in Gyeongsangbuk-do, 87 in Gyeongsangnam-do, and 22 in Jeju.

Thirty-five more people died from COVID-19 raising the total death toll to 3,363 (fatality rate 0.79%). There were 586 patients in critical condition receiving in-patient treatment, up 37 from the previous day. This was the biggest figure since relevant statistics were collected. The accumulated number of COVID-19 cases confirmed in South Korea since the first case was confirmed in January 2020 was 425,065.

As of 5 p.m. the previous day, 71.0% of ICU beds for COVID-19 patients were occupied. Currently, 329 of the 1,135 hospital beds are available. In the Seoul metropolitan area alone, 83.7% of the ICU beds were occupied. When it came to general hospital beds for the treatment of patients with moderate symptoms, 66.2% were occupied, and 3,510 of the 10,391 beds were available.

As of midnight this day, 42,320,422 people had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine after 28,236 people received their first shots the previous day. So far, 82.4% of the nation’s population has received at least one dose of the vaccine. Fully vaccinated people, who have received all the recommended doses, increased by 43,631 bringing the total to 40,631,958 (79.1% of the population). The previous day, 136,670 people received booster shots, and so far, a total of 2,102,455 people have received the booster shot.

During the two days of November 23-24 (midnight), authorities received 1,877 reports of allergic reactions following vaccination. Among them 95.8% or 1,798 cases were of general allergic reactions, such as muscle pain, headache and chills. Four cases were suspected of anaphylaxis, 60 cases involved abnormal reactions in the nervous system, and fifteen deaths were reported. However, authorities have yet to confirm the causal relation with the vaccination.