First case of infection with new subtype strain of Omicron detected in South Korea

　　(Fighting against New Coronary Pneumonia) For the first time in South Korea, a new subtype strain of Omicron was detected

　　China News Service, Seoul, May 17 (Liu Xu and Liu Jingni) According to the report of the Central Epidemic Prevention Countermeasures Headquarters of South Korea on the 17th, as of 0:00 that day, 35,117 new confirmed cases of the new crown were added in South Korea compared with 0:00 the previous day, with a total of 17,830,429 confirmed cases.

The South Korean epidemic prevention department reported on the same day that the new subtypes BA.4 and BA.5 of the Omicron mutant strain have been detected for the first time in South Korea, and the number of domestic BA.2.12.1 infections has also increased to 19 cases.

　　It is reported that there is currently one confirmed case of BA.4 in South Korea, which was diagnosed after arriving in South Korea from South Africa on April 27.

There are currently two cases of BA.5 in South Korea. One was diagnosed in Incheon on the 12th of this month and is asymptomatic; the other case was diagnosed on the 12th after entering South Korea from Turkey on the 8th of this month.

In this regard, the Korean epidemic prevention authority said that epidemiological investigations are being carried out on relevant cases and the monitoring of community transmission has been strengthened.

　　According to South Korea's YTN TV and SBS TV, although there is currently no evidence that the symptoms of BA.4 and BA.5 new subtypes will be more severe than before, the epidemic prevention department predicts that due to new mutations in their spike proteins, The aforementioned two subtype strains will be slightly more infectious than the existing Omicron variant subtype strains.

　　According to KBS TV, the South Korean epidemic prevention department said that in order to investigate the scale of natural infections of the new crown and assess the epidemic risk, from this month, an antibody survey will be conducted on residents of 17 cities and provinces across the country.

In addition, the Korean epidemic prevention department will comprehensively consider factors such as the epidemic situation and medical response capabilities, and decide on the time to release the isolation obligation of new crown patients at the meeting of the Central Disaster Safety Countermeasures Headquarters to be held on the 20th of this month.

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