As Omicron spreads in all directions, the number of new confirmed cases today (18th) exceeded 100,000 for the first time since the start of the domestic Corona 19 crisis.



The Central Quarantine Countermeasures Headquarters announced that as of 00:00 today, there were 109,831 new confirmed cases, bringing the total to 1,755,806.



The number of new confirmed cases increased by 16,696 from yesterday (93,135).



The 'doubling' phenomenon, in which the number of confirmed cases doubles every week, continues, increasing 2.0 times from the 11th (53,920 people) a week ago and 4.0 times from the 4th (27,437 people) two weeks ago (27,437 people).



The quarantine authorities previously predicted that the number of confirmed cases per day at the end of this month would reach 130,000 to 170,000.



However, according to the modeling results of the National Institute of Mathematical Sciences, the peak period is delayed and the peak is higher, expected to reach a maximum of 270,000 by the middle of next month.



In the midst of this, the government held a meeting today at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters to extend the limit of business hours for restaurants and cafes for three weeks from the 21st to 10 pm from 9 pm to 10 pm, and private meetings are currently limited to 'up to 6 people'. decided to keep



The government has taken a stance that social distancing measures can be relaxed based on a stable aggravation rate and medical availability, but in consideration of the recent surge in confirmed cases, the level of easing was adjusted by extending the business hours of restaurants and cafes by one more hour. did it.



The number of local confirmed cases was 36,507 in Gyeonggi, 25,626 in Seoul, and 7,342 in Incheon, accounting for 69,475 (63.3%) in the metropolitan area alone.



As of 00:00 today, the number of patients with severe severe symptoms was 385, a decrease of 4 from yesterday (389).



The number of critically ill patients, which had been in the 200 range since the end of last month, gradually turned to an increasing trend, and has been in the 300 range for five days starting on the 14th (306 patients).



The death toll was 45, the cumulative death toll was 7,283, and the cumulative fatality rate was 0.41%.



By age group, those over 80 years of age accounted for the most with 34, followed by 7 in their 70s, 3 in their 60s, and 1 in their 50s.



As the number of asymptomatic and mild cases has risen sharply, the number of home-treated patients is also rapidly increasing.



As of 00:00 today, the number of home treatment patients was 351,695, an increase of 37,130 from yesterday (314,565).



(Photo = Yonhap News)