As the scale of the epidemic increased sharply day after day due to the mutation of Corona 19 micron, the number of new confirmed cases rose to the mid-90,000 level today (17th).



At the current rate of increase in patients, the number of daily confirmed cases is expected to exceed 100,000 soon.



The Central Quarantine Countermeasures Headquarters announced that as of 00:00 today, there were 93,135 new confirmed cases, bringing the total to 1,645,978.



The number of new confirmed cases increased by 2,692 from yesterday (90,443), continuing the 90,000 level for two days in a row.



In particular, the number of confirmed cases doubled every week, 1.7 times higher than the previous 10 days (54,120 people) a week ago and 4.1 times higher than two weeks ago (22,906 people) on the 3rd day (22,906 people).



While quarantine authorities forecast that the number of daily confirmed cases will reach 130,000 to 170,000 at the end of this month, the number of confirmed cases is expected to continue to soar toward the peak for the time being.



Looking at the route of infection of new confirmed cases, 93,45 cases were local and 90 were imported.



The total number of new confirmed cases, including regional outbreaks and overseas arrivals (excluding quarantine), reached 55,374 in the metropolitan area alone, including 28,447 in Gyeonggi, 19,689 in Seoul, and 7,238 in Incheon.



As of 00:00 today, the number of patients with severe severe disease was 389, an increase of 76 from yesterday (313).



The number of critically ill patients, which had been in the 200 range since the end of last month, gradually turned to increase and rose to the 300 level again on the 14th (306) and reached 400 today.



The quarantine authorities analyzed that the number of patients with severe cases continued to decrease, but started to increase from the second week of this month.



However, the authorities believe that the number of severe cases of severe disease is increasing slowly compared to the rapid spread due to the low severity of Omicron compared to Delta and the high tertiary vaccination rate among the elderly over 60 years of age.



The death toll stood at 36, bringing the total to 7,238.



The cumulative fatality rate is 0.44%.



By age group, those aged 80 or older accounted for the most with 25, followed by five in their 70s, three in their 60s and 50s, and one each in their 40s and 30s.



The number of asymptomatic and mild confirmed cases is also increasing rapidly.



As of 00:00 today, the number of at-home treatment patients was 314,565, an increase of 48,525 from yesterday (266,040).



Previously, the authorities said that 10% of all confirmed cases were treated at hospitals and living treatment centers, and 90% were classified as at-home care.



The government is planning to collect opinions from all walks of life at the Daily Recovery Support Committee meeting today and finalize and announce the social distancing adjustment plan at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters tomorrow.



(Photo = Yonhap News)