AGENCY – South Korea reported 81,573 new COVID-19 cases as of midnight Wednesday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 23,327,897, the health authorities said Thursday.
The daily caseload was down from 103,961 in the prior day and lower than 113,349 tallied a week earlier, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). For the past week, the daily average number of confirmed cases was 89,997. Among the new cases, 300 were imported from overseas, lifting the total to 59,092.
The number of infected people who were in serious condition stood at 555, down 14 from the previous day. A total of 112 more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 26,876. The total fatality rate was 0.12 percent.
Malaysia reported 2,340 new COVID-19 infections as of midnight Wednesday, bringing the national total to 4,782,624, according to the health ministry. There are two new imported cases, with 2,338 cases being local transmissions, data released on the ministry’s website showed. Another six deaths have been reported, pushing the death toll to 36,216.
The ministry reported 2,502 new recoveries, bringing the total number of cured and discharged to 4,715,417. There are 30,991 active cases, with 69 being held in intensive care and 42 of those in need of assisted breathing.
The country reported 1,418 vaccine doses administered on Wednesday alone, while 86 percent of the population have received at least one dose, 84.2 percent are fully vaccinated, 49.7 percent have received the first booster, and 1.4 percent have received the second booster.
New Zealand recorded 2,066 new community cases of COVID-19 and two more deaths from the pandemic, the Ministry of Health said on Thursday. The country has seen the number of daily cases going down steadily from over 10,000 cases nationwide in early July.
With the fresh cases, New Zealand has reported 1,726,820 confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 1,893 COVID-19-related deaths since the pandemic hit the country in early 2020, the ministry said.
Currently, 286 COVID-19 patients are being treated in hospitals in the country, including three in intensive care units or high dependency units, showed official data. The country is currently under the orange settings of its COVID-19 Protection Framework, where there is no limit for gatherings. (Xinhua)
