Employees check the electronic display board at the Songpa-gu Office in Seoul on the 22nd, when 335,980 new cases of Corona 19 were confirmed. On this day, the cumulative number of confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 9,936,540, approaching 10 million, about 20% of the country’s population. The number of deaths reached 384, exceeding 300 for the sixth day, and the cumulative number reached 13,141. [사진 = 이충우 기자]The ‘K-Quarantine’, which was envied for its stable management at the time when the number of confirmed COVID-19 patients around the world rapidly increased, is collapsing. For the past three weeks in a row, the world’s highest number of new cases of COVID-19 has occurred.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) weekly epidemiological report on the 23rd (local time), the number of new COVID-19 cases worldwide from the 14th to the 20th was 12,384,300, an increase of 7% compared to the previous week. In particular, the increase in the number of confirmed cases in the Western Pacific region including Korea was remarkable.
Among the six regions, the number of new confirmed cases increased in one in the Western Pacific, a whopping 21% increase from the previous week. The rest of the region, the Eastern Mediterranean (-41%), Africa (-33%), Southeast Asia (-23%), and the Americas (-17%), saw a decrease in new cases, and Europe (0%) remained at a similar level to the previous week. seemed
In particular, in Korea, the number of new confirmed cases reached 2,87,214, the highest number among countries in the world. South Korea recorded the highest number of new cases for three weeks in a row until last week, following 1.46,1431 from February 28 to March 6 and 2.1 million from March 7 to 13.
Next, Vietnam (1,888694), Germany (1,53,666), France (582,344) and Australia (51,3388) showed many new confirmed cases.
As of the 20th, the cumulative number of COVID-19 cases worldwide is 46,822,755. Last week, there were 32,959 new deaths worldwide due to COVID-19, down 23% from the previous week. The cumulative number of deaths was 6,074,058.
The number of deaths due to the rapid increase in the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Korea is also on the rise. Recently, to set up a burial place at a funeral home in the metropolitan area, the number of waiting times exceeds dozens. There are cases in which the crematorium cannot be held, so it is held for up to 8 days.
According to the funeral industry, the utilization rate of crematoriums nationwide has already exceeded 100%. The cause is, of course, the corona virus. According to data from the National Statistical Office, 7,869 people have died this year, especially 5,374, which is more than double the number of deaths in January and February this month.
As of yesterday, the weekly average daily death rate per 1 million people was 6.63, the second highest in the world after Hungary among countries with a population of 1 million or more.
It is known that Omicron’s fatality rate is low, but as the number of confirmed cases increases, the number of deaths also increases. In high-risk groups, such as those over the age of 60, tens of thousands of infections per day increased the number of deaths.
Experts estimate that there are many deaths that are not captured in government statistics. This means that there will be more ‘excessive deaths’, either due to complications after a cure, or due to lack of ward and not being treated in a timely manner.
Despite this situation, the government is repeating the phrase that the medical system is stable. In addition, among home-treated patients, the number of subjects monitored twice a day was again reduced.
Even those over the age of 60 and those with weakened immunity are excluded from the intensive care group if confirmed by the rapid antigen test at the hospital.
[조성신 매경닷컴 기자]
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