Covid cases dip a bit to 178,574

People line up at a Covid-19 testing site in Yongsan District, central Seoul on Thursday. [YONHAP]

New Covid cases slipped to 178,574 a day after hitting a four-month high.

Health authorities Thursday morning announced that 178,574 people across the nation tested positive for the coronavirus on Wednesday, down from the previous day’s 180,803.

Tuesday’s figure of 180,803 was the highest daily figure since mid-April.

Wednesday’s figure of 178,574 was 1.3 times larger than a week before and 1.66 times larger than two weeks before.

The number of Covid-19 patients in critical or serious condition inched up to 470 on Wednesday, the second consecutive day that the figure was in the 400s. A total of 61 people died, 19 more than the previous day.

Of Wednesday’s total cases, about 27 percent were in the province of Gyeonggi, followed by 19.9 percent in Seoul, according to data from the Ministry of Health and Welfare. Busan and South Gyeongsang, located in the southeastern part of the nation, accounted for about 6 percent of total cases each.

The government projects the sixth Covid-19 wave to peak at around 200,000 daily cases around the end of this month and subside gradually.

In a daily briefing Thursday, health officials strongly advised young people with underlying illnesses to get vaccinated, pointing to recent statistics showing a growing number of deaths in this group.

While 44 people in Korea 18 years or younger died from the coronavirus during the pandemic, 52.3 percent had an underlying illness, and the vast majority of those had not gotten vaccinated, said the Health Ministry.

The most common underlying illness was a neurological disorder such as epilepsy, at 22.7 percent, followed by an endocrine disorder at 11.4 percent, and congenital malformation, or birth defects, at 11.4 percent.

Among the 44 deaths, 65.9 percent were aged nine or below, while the rest were between 10 and 18. Boys accounted for 54.5 percent and girls 45.5 percent.

The month that saw the most deaths was last April, around the time that the Omicron variant swept the nation, when 13 of the 44 young people died.

The Health Ministry said in a statement that it was increasing hospital beds for young Covid-19 patients in case they develop severe symptoms. Such beds rose from 246 on June 30 to 2,727 on Wednesday.

Only 2.1 percent of children from the ages of 5 to 11 have received first vaccine shots, while 1.5 percent received second shots, Health Ministry statistics show. Among teens between 12 and 17, 16.5 percent received their third shots.

The government has advised all 12- to 17-year-olds and high-risk 5- to 11-year-olds to get their first and second vaccine shots, and high-risk 12- to 17-year-olds to get boosters.

The high-risk group refers to anyone with an underlying illness such as a heart or liver disease or a neurological disorder.

BY LEE SUNG-EUN [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]