As of 9 o'clock the day before, it was already 'highest in history'... It's likely to be close to 4,000 today.

<Anchor> The

number of new corona cases has already exceeded the all-time high as of 9 pm yesterday (23rd). Today, it is expected that the number will be in the late 3,000s, or close to 4,000 at most. The number of critically ill patients also broke the record high as of yesterday. The government said it would consider strengthening quarantine measures, including emergency plans, if this situation continues.

This is reporter Han Ji-yeon.

<Reporter> As of

9 p.m. last night, the number of new confirmed cases of COVID-19 was 3,573, far exceeding the record of 3,292 on the 18th, which was the highest number of new confirmed cases in a day.

This is a figure excluding Busan among 17 cities and provinces, and if you add up the figures by midnight when counting ends, the number of new confirmed cases to be announced today is expected to approach 4,000.

Although the quarantine authorities are tightening the reins in high-risk facilities for the elderly, such as nursing homes, the epidemic seems to be spreading.

At a care facility for the elderly in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, after a user's family was first confirmed on the 20th, 16 people including users and employees were infected, and 14 of them were found to have breakthrough infections.

At this nursing facility in Guro-gu, Seoul, 13 people have been infected since the 20th, all of which were breakthrough infections.

The shortage of beds in the metropolitan area is not improving as the number of patients with severe cases is also at an all-time high.

There were 836 patients waiting for more than one day to be assigned to a bed, and three deaths were reported last week while waiting for hospitalization.

It has been four weeks since the first phase of the gradual recovery of daily life began, but the quarantine authorities are of the position that if the current situation continues, we will also consider strengthening the quarantine, including an emergency plan.

As the risk of student infection increases due to full school attendance, quarantine authorities are accepting additional advance reservations for teenagers aged 12 to 17 by December 31st.