As the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases is rapidly increasing due to the spread of Omicron mutation, it was found that there have already been more than 70,000 confirmed cases nationwide by 6 pm on the 15th.
According to the quarantine authorities and each local government, including the Seoul Metropolitan Government, from 00:00 to 6pm on the same day, 71,915 people in 17 cities and provinces across the country were confirmed.
The number jumped 23,280 in just one day from 48,635 the previous day, the highest number in the same time period.
It is 2.5 times higher than the count for the same time period (28,880 people) on the 8th, a week ago, and 6.2 times higher than the count on the previous day (11,675 people) two weeks ago.
As of 00:00 that day, 14,738 more than the 57,177 new confirmed cases.
For six days from the 10th, the number of new confirmed cases was maintained at 50,000.
However, the number of confirmed cases, which had stalled due to a decrease in the number of tests on the weekend, increased again as the weekdays entered, skipping 50,000 to 60,000 and going straight to 70,000.
The government predicted that the number of new cases could rise from 130,000 to more than 170,000 by the end of this month.
As there is still time until midnight, when the counting ends, the number of new confirmed cases to be announced tomorrow is expected to increase even more.
There were 41,783 (58.1%) new confirmed cases in the metropolitan area and 31,132 (41.9%) in non-metropolitan areas.
By province and province, there were 26,34 cases in Gyeonggi and 17,391 in Seoul, with more than 20,000 or close to 20,000 confirmed in both regions.
Gyeongnam 3,863, Incheon 3,758, Daegu 3,571, Busan 3,124, Chungnam 2,852, Gyeongbuk 2,765, Daejeon 2,444, Gwangju 2285, Chungbuk 1,862 people in Ulsan, 1,760 in Ulsan, 1,620 in Gangwon, 1,317 in Jeollanam-do, 1,103 in Jeollabuk-do, 938 in Jeju and 628 in Sejong.