<Anchor> The number of
new confirmed cases recorded around 1,500. The number of seriously ill patients continues to increase. This is because delta mutations not only have strong propagation power, but also have a high risk.
Reporter Kim Deok-hyun reports.
<Reporter> A
notice of temporary closure was posted at the entrance of an indoor sports facility in Gangnam-gu, Seoul.
After one official was first confirmed on the 23rd, the number of related infections, including members and their families, increased to 34.
The health authorities believe that the virus was spread while using the sauna in the facility.
While group infections at workplaces, academies, and PC rooms continue to spread, the spread of infection in daily life through previous confirmed cases is close to half of all infections, and the spread is not slowing down.
As more than 1,000 confirmed cases came out for 25 consecutive days, the number of patients with severe cases increased rapidly, exceeding 300 for the first time in six months since January, when the third pandemic was in full swing.
The number of patients with severe gastritis has been increasing particularly rapidly in the past two weeks, and by age group, those in their 50s account for the most at 40%.
The delta mutant virus, which is leading the epidemic, is not only more contagious than the existing mutant, but also has a higher risk, which is why health authorities are increasingly concerned.
[Jung Eun-kyung / Director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Yesterday): Because there are reports that increase the risk of hospitalization by 1.8 to 2 times than that of the alpha mutation, and that it also increases the risk of death... .]
The government is urging people to postpone various meetings as much as possible and strictly follow personal quarantine rules, while also considering applying additional quarantine measures to the current social distancing stage.
(Video coverage: Lee Seung-hwan, video editing: Lee So-young)