The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency announced on the 14th that the number of domestic novel coronavirus infections as of midnight that day increased by 1,615 from midnight the previous day, bringing the cumulative total to 171,190. The number of new daily infections increased by 465 from the previous day (1,150). This is the highest number since the first infection was confirmed in South Korea on January 20 last year, significantly surpassing the previous record of 1,378 set on the 10th of this month.

Notably, about 400 community infections were confirmed in areas outside the capital region, indicating that the "fourth wave" of the coronavirus epidemic is spreading nationwide. In response to the spread of infections, the government decided to raise the level of infection prevention measures, "Social Distancing," to the second-lowest level, Level 2, starting from the 15th, excluding Sejong City, North Jeolla Province, South Jeolla Province, and North Gyeongsang Province.

A total of 1,568 community infections were newly confirmed. By region, Seoul had 633 cases, Gyeonggi Province had 453, and Incheon had 93, with the capital region accounting for 1,179 cases, or 75.2% of the total. This is the first time that the number of community infections in the capital region has exceeded 1,100.

In areas outside the capital region, there were 87 cases in South Gyeongsang Province, 62 in Busan, 52 in Daegu, 41 in Daejeon, 36 in South Chungcheong Province, 21 in Jeju Province, 19 in North Gyeongsang Province, and 15 each in Gwangju and Gangwon Province, 11 in Ulsan, 9 each in North Jeolla Province and South Chungcheong Province, and 6 each in Sejong City and South Jeolla Province, totaling 389 cases (24.8%). The proportion of community infections outside the capital region has exceeded 20% for six consecutive days.

Meanwhile, 47 new infections were confirmed among overseas arrivals. Of these, 19 were detected at quarantine at airports and ports, and the remaining 28 tested positive during their self-quarantine after arrival.

The number of deaths increased by 2 from the previous day to a total of 2,048. The average fatality rate in South Korea is 1.19%. The number of critically ill patients increased by 17 from the previous day to 163.

The number of tests conducted on the 13th was 44,560, an increase of 159 from the previous day.

Article Source: ⓒYONHAPNEWS 

These are English translations of articles from our GTTOUR Japanese website.