The figure has remained in the 20,000 range for three consecutive days
The Central Disease Control Headquarters announced on February 4 that there were 27,443 new confirmed cases of COVID-19. The number of confirmed cases surged by more than 4,500 a day from the previous day, the highest in the 20,000 range for three consecutive days.
The route of infection of new confirmed patients was 27,283 people in Korea and 160 people from overseas. By region, the Seoul metropolitan area accounted for 55.4% (15,120 people), including 6,139 confirmed cases in Seoul, 7,202 in Gyeonggi, and 1,779 in Incheon.
The new confirmed cases were 1,719 in Busan, 1,707 in Daegu, 826 in Gwangju, 757 in Daejeon, 471 in Ulsan, and 248 in Sejong, 632 in Gangwon and 207 in Jeju.
The number of COVID-19 deaths increased by 24 to 6,836 (fatal rate 0.73%). The number of critically ill patients hospitalized was 257, down 17 from the previous day. Since the first confirmed case in Korea in January 2020, the cumulative number of confirmed cases has been 934,656.
As of 5 p.m. the previous day, the operation rate of beds for severely ill patients with COVID-19 was 14.9%. Of the 2,430 beds in possession, there are 2,068 beds available for hospitalization.