Covid-19 daily case total nearly doubles in one-week period

Social Affairs

Published: 17 Jul. 2022, 18:45 Updated: 18 Jul. 2022, 16:24

Covid-19 daily case total nearly doubles in one-week period

People wait at a Covid-19 testing site in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Sunday amid a rising number of infections across the nation. [YONHAP]

More than 40,000 people across the nation tested positive for the coronavirus on Saturday, nearly double the number from a week before, as new variants continue to rapidly spread.

Korean health authorities on Sunday morning announced that 40,342 new Covid-19 cases were detected on Saturday, nearly double the week-earlier figure. Saturday's figure was four times the number two weeks prior.

It was the first time in 10 weeks that the number of new Covid cases on a Saturday broke 40,000.

A total of 41,310 new Covid cases were counted Friday.

Over the past week, new coronavirus cases detected each day hovered around the high 30,000s to low 40,000s, in what experts called the beginning of a sixth wave.

Figures for the past weekend are especially alarming given that they usually set the baseline for the following week. Fewer people get tested over the weekends because fewer testing sites are open, which means that people who come down with symptoms over the weekends are likely to get tested and receive their positive test results on Monday through Wednesday.

Among Saturday's 40,342 cases, 305 were imported, while the rest were domestically infected, according to statistics from the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

Gyeonggi topped the list for the most cases with 11,043, followed by Seoul with 8,565, Busan at 2,568, South Gyeongsang at 2,231 and Incheon with 2,103. The only regions with fewer than 1,000 were Gwangju, South Jeolla and Sejong.

A total of 70 people were in critical or serious condition. Fourteen people died.

Even as the nation lifted virtually all Covid restrictions, the recent rise in the number of cases is pushing some people back to practicing social distancing, especially those who have never come down with the virus so far.

Mr. Kang, a 27-year-old office worker, said he was trying his best to avoid all company dinners and get-togethers with his friends so as not to get infected.

"People say that I'm being too sensitive," Kang said. "But I'm trying to be careful because I have a family member with an underlying illness."

Kang said he was thinking about postponing his summer vacation plans.

A 42-year-old mother of two children, who wished to be identified only by her surname Lee, could relate with Kang because she, too, has been avoiding all social gatherings out of fear she might catch the virus and transmit it to her kids.

"My youngest child came home from hagwon [private academy] saying that a classmate got infected, and it really worried me," said Lee. "Since then, I haven't gone to any large private gatherings."

Local health experts have warned that the number of daily Covid-19 cases might soon skyrocket to upwards of 300,000 after the fast-spreading BA.2.75 Omicron subvariant was detected domestically last Thursday.

BY LEE SUNG-EUN, KIM NAM-YOUNG [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]