Weekly COVID-19 infections rise for 1st time in 11 weeks

▲ A senior citizen receives a COVID-19 vaccine shot at a hospital in western Seoul, in this file photo dated Oct. 19, 2023. (Yonhap)

coronavirus-tally

Weekly COVID-19 infections rise for 1st time in 11 weeks

SEOUL, Nov. 2 (Yonhap) -- The weekly number of COVID-19 patients in South Korea rose for the first time in 11 weeks, with seniors taking up around 40 percent of the additional cases, data showed Thursday.

The number of additional patients came to 8,635 during the fourth week of October, up 17 percent from a week earlier, according to the weekly report by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

Among the new cases, seniors aged 60 and above accounted for 38.6 percent, slightly down from 39.3 percent tallied a week earlier.

The government downgraded the infection level of COVID-19 to Class 4, the lowest level, on par with the seasonal flu, on Aug. 31.

Since then, the country has operated a sample-based positive test reporting system involving 527 local surveillance organizations, suspending the yearslong full-scale testing system.

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