S. Korea sees rise in daily average of new COVID-19 cases and deaths

코로나19 확진•위중증•사망 모두 증가세 4주간 개량백신 '집중 접종기간' South Korea's daily COVID-19 tally has been on the rise in recent weeks. In response, authorities are encouraging people to get additional bivalent boosters by providing various incentives. Shin Ha-young brings the updates. South Korea has been seeing weekly increases in cases of COVID-19. Last week, the number of COVID-19 cases and deaths were all up, with health authoroties maintaining their pandemic risk level at “medium” for three weeks. According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters on Wednesday, the daily average of new COVID-19 cases last week rose by almost 16 percent from the previous week, going above 49 thousand. For the same period, the average number of patients in critical condition rose nearly 19 percent, while the deaths climbed by almost 17 percent. The country reported 66-thousand-5-hundred-87 new cases on Wednesday. That’s the highest number reported on a Wednesday in nine weeks when the number surged to over 93 thousand following the Chuseok holiday. There are 411 who are severely ill while 47 more deaths were reported. With growing concerns about a wintertime resurgence, the government says that a low vaccination rate could lead to a more severe wave of COVID-19. "The number of COVID-19 cases has been rising for five weeks as a winter wave has begun. Starting Monday, the government will begin encouraging people to get additional bivalent COVID-19 boosters for the next four weeks." The Prime Minister added that incentives will be offered during that period. Like free entrances to the royal palaces in Seoul as well as discounts on other cultural activities like temple stays. Meanwhile, more than 2-thousand people with COVID-19 have signed up for the country's annual college entrance exam, which is 24 times greater than that of last year. Those with symptoms of COVID-19 will take the test separately. The Ministry of Education has prepared more than 8-hundred separate test sites nationwide and more than a hundred beds in 25 hospitals. Shin Ha-young, Arirang News. #COVID19 #Disease #Arirang_News 📣 Facebook :   / arirangtvnews   📣 Twitter :   / arirangtvnews   📣 Homepage : http://www.arirang.com/news/News_Inde... 2022-11-16, 21:00 (KST)