New Daily Cases of COVID-19: Another Record-breaking 14,518

[경향신문]

Citizens line up to get tested for COVID-19 at a temporary screening clinic set up in Parking Lot 2 of the Jamsil Sports Complex in Songpa-gu, Seoul on January 26. Han Su-bin

The Central Disease Control Headquarters announced that as of midnight January 27, they confirmed 14,518 new cases of COVID-19 from the previous day. Authorities continued to confirm more than 10,000 cases for two consecutive days as the nation recorded another record high. The latest figures are more than double the number of cases confirmed three days ago, when the number of cases were around 7,000.

A look at the transmission route showed that 14,301 of the new cases were transmitted in the local community while 217 cases entered from overseas. A regional analysis of the cases showed that 63.9% (9,133) occurred in the Seoul capital area with 3,385 cases in Seoul, 4,738 in Gyeonggi and 1,010 in Incheon. Authorities also confirmed 732 cases in Busan, 764 in Daegu, 337 in Gwangju, 408 in Daejeon, 146 in Ulsan, 76 in Sejong, 187 in Gangwon-do, 287 in Chungcheongbuk-do, 431 in Chungcheongnam-do, 308 in Jeollabuk-do, 289 in Jeollanam-do, 480 in Gyeongsangbuk-do, 654 in Gyeongsangnam-do, and 69 in Jeju-do.

The number of deaths from COVID-19 increased by 34 reaching a total of 6,654 (fatality rate 0.86%). The number of patients receiving in-patient treatment with serious symptoms dropped by 35 from the previous day to 350. Authorities have confirmed 777,497 cases of COVID-19 in South Korea since they confirmed the first case in January 2020.

As of 5 p.m. Wednesday, 18.3% of hospital beds for COVID-19 patients in critical condition were occupied. Authorities have secured a total of 2,294 beds and among them 1,874 are available. General beds reserved for the treatment of COVID-19 patients with moderate symptoms are 37.0% occupied, and 11,129 of the 17,660 beds are available.

On Wednesday, 8,393 people received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, and as of midnight this day 44,605,045 people have received at least one dose of the vaccine. This accounts for 86.9% of the national population. As for the second dose, 24,107 more people received the second shot, pushing the total number up to 43,904,632 (85.6% of the population). On Wednesday, 251,732 people received booster shots and so far, a total of 26,043,358 people have received a third dose of the vaccine. This means 50.7% of the national population have received booster shots (85.3% of people ages sixty and older).