Covid deaths still high, though infections keep falling

A worker disinfects a high-speed train at Suseo Station in Gangnam District, southern Seoul on Thursday. Passengers will be allowed to eat on inter-city buses and trains this year during Chuseok. [YONHAP]

Over 100 Covid patients died on Wednesday alone, the highest in four months.

Health officials Thursday announced that 112 coronavirus patients died the day before, 37 more than on Tuesday.

Wednesday’s death toll was the highest in 125 days, since 136 Covid deaths were tallied on April 28.

That relatively grim data contrasted with 81,573 new Covid cases on Wednesday, compared to 113,349 last Wednesday.

Two weeks earlier, the figure was 178,515.

A total of 103,961 cases were tallied on Tuesday.

Over the past week, Korea has counted about 90,000 new cases per day on average.

There were 555 Covid patients in critical or serious condition on Wednesday, 14 fewer than the day before. It was the ninth straight day that the figure was in the 500s.

Among Wednesday’s deaths, 92.9 percent were of people 60 or older, who are considered a high-risk group. Among patients who were in critical or serious condition, 87.9 percent were 60 or older.

Health authorities said the nation seemed to be past the peak of the sixth wave and will see fewer cases in coming days compared to the last several weeks.

But the daily figures of deaths and patients in critical or serious condition are projected to rise, the Health Ministry said this week, as people who develop severe symptoms usually do so several days after they catch the virus. Because daily cases shot up to the 180,000s in mid-August, the aftermath is being felt now.

With Chuseok around the corner, officials warned the public to refrain from meeting elderly relatives out of fear of transmitting the virus and getting them sick.

This year’s Chuseok, which lasts from Sept. 9 to 12, will be the first in three years without social distancing regulations. In the past, the government tried to discourage family gatherings out of fear of new clusters and forbade people from eating on inter-city buses or trains.

This year, eating will be allowed.

For the first time since 2019, the government said it would also exempt all vehicles from tolls on national highways, a policy the government started in 2017 to encourage people to travel and spend cash to stimulate the local economy.

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