<Anchor> The



number of additional confirmed cases of Corona has fallen to 3,000 in 4 weeks. Although the recent days are so cold that the number of tests has decreased, the quarantine authorities analyzed that it is clear that the trend has changed. However, as the number of patients in critical condition still exceeds 1,000, it seems difficult for the government to immediately lift the current distance until this Sunday.



This is the first news today (28th), reporter Park Jae-hyun.



<Reporter>



Last Sunday, when the midday temperature was below minus 10 degrees Celsius, screening clinics across Seoul shortened their operating hours.



It's quite different from waiting hours for a test a month ago.



The number of tests, which decreased by more than 30,000 from Sunday the previous week, was partially reflected in the number of confirmed cases yesterday and today.



It decreased significantly from the same day of the week just before two days in a row, but it is the first time in 28 days that the number of confirmed cases in one day is in the 3,000 range.



The weekly average daily number of confirmed cases also fell to 6,101 last week, the first time in 9 weeks.



[Sohn Young-rae/Chief of Social Strategy Team at Central Accident Resolving Headquarters: Overall, the scale of the epidemic is decreasing compared to before, so it can be evaluated that the epidemic has turned into a declining trend in the situation where it continues to spread.]



However, the number of patients in critical condition increased by 24 from the previous day .

With 1,102 people, the number is around 1,000 for eight days in a row.



Currently, severe cases are cases where mild and moderate cases have worsened.



The quarantine authorities predicted that it would take another 5 to 10 days for the decrease in new confirmed cases to lead to a decrease in patients with severe cases.



As the intensive care beds were gradually expanded, the number of patients waiting for more than a day in the metropolitan area was greatly reduced to nine.



The number of confirmed cases of Omicron mutation increased by 4 to 449, and there are many cases where the route of infection is unknown.



The government will announce on Friday this week whether the distance will be extended beyond the 2nd of next month.



Given the size of the critically ill patients and the risk factor of microns, it seems difficult to lift the distance right away.



(Video editing: Kim Jun-hee, CG: Kang Yu-ra)