[Exclusive] "Omicron is coming to an end" 2 things South Africa learned

<Anchor>

Among the countries where Omicron has spread before us, there are countries where the number of patients has risen sharply, but is now declining. South Africa, which was the first to disclose information about Omicron, is also gradually moving away from Omicron. To see if there is anything we can refer to, we conducted an exclusive interview with South Africa's deputy minister of health and an infectious disease authority.

Correspondent Kim Soo-hyung from Washington will deliver the contents.

<Reporter>

South Africa, which had less than 300 confirmed cases of Corona until mid-November last year, exceeded 23,000 on December 17 as Omicron spread.

From this peak, the number of infections has steadily decreased, dropping to the level of 4,300 on the 18th.

South Africa's Deputy Minister of Health Sibongisseni DeLomo, who was interviewed by SBS, and Dr. Tulio de Oliveira, who was selected as one of the top 10 scientists by Nature last year, analyzed that South Africa is clearly moving away from the Omicron.

[Sibongiseni DeLomo / South Africa Deputy Minister of Health: (Does Omicron mutation spread rapidly and then decrease rapidly?) Yes, we have confirmed that the mutation spreads quickly and then the infection decreases rapidly. ]

Deputy Minister DeLomoo said that Omicron is lighter than the previous mutation, but there were many hospitalizations and deaths, he cautioned.

[Sibongiseni DeLomo / South African Minister of Health: It cannot be said that the omicron mutation is weak. Not as much as other mutations before, but there are also people in South Africa who have died of omicrons. Yes, compared to previous mutations, this omicron is weaker.]

Dr. De Oliveira said South African scientists have learned two new things about microns.

[Tulio de Oliveira/Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Response Innovation in South Africa: Omicron easily reinfects people who have already been infected with the delta mutation. But not vice versa. This is because Omicron's antibodies protect against delta infection. This is good news.]

However, as Nature is currently verifying this claim in South Africa, further research is needed.

[Tulio de Oliveira/Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Response Innovation in South Africa: Another good news is that vaccines, especially booster vaccinations, have been very effective against Omicron. I would recommend getting a booster vaccine.]

In particular, he emphasized the importance of managing the number of hospitalized patients, saying that if Omicron spreads in Korea in the future, the number of infected people will skyrocket.

[Tulio de Oliveira/Director of the Center for Infectious Disease Response Innovation in South Africa: Omicron is extremely contagious. Don't panic. Korea should keep an eye on not only the number of infected people, but also the number of hospitalized patients.]

Dr. De Oliveira carefully predicted the possibility that the corona could turn into an endemic, meaning endemic, after the omicron wave.

But he also stressed that the world must be vaccinated together to prevent another mutation from appearing.

---

<Anchor>

Correspondent Kim Soo-hyung, in the United States, there was news that the corona had slowed somewhat in some areas, but is Omicron still in a serious state?

<Reporter> The

US still has over 750,000 confirmed cases per day on average.

Although the spread has slowed somewhat in some areas, hospitalizations and deaths are still staggering.

President Biden held a press conference on the first anniversary of his inauguration today (20th), stating that there is no economic lockdown, saying that the spread of Omicron is not causing a panic.

[Biden/President of the United States: On our way, a challenge called Omicron appeared. This is a new enemy. It's causing concern, but not panicking. We will not do economic lockdown again.]

About half of Americans now perceive that President Biden, who was expected to be as good at catching the coronavirus, perceives the coronavirus response as wrong.

The US government was unable to meet the demand for Omicron testing, so it decided to distribute four self-diagnostic devices free of charge to each household, and it is also planning to distribute 400 million N95 masks in the near future.

(Video coverage: Park Eun-ha, Video editing: Lee Seung-jin)

▶ "No mask quarantine"...

UK choosing to coexist with Omicron

▶ Back to 6,000 people…

Omicron's proliferation 'before the nose'