<Anchor> Although
yesterday (the 4th) was a holiday with a relatively small number of tests, the number of additional confirmed cases exceeded 700. As of Sunday, the number of cases is the highest since January, and the number of patients has doubled compared to two weeks ago. As a result of the investigation, it was found that about 7 out of 100 new cases were infected with the delta mutation, which spreads quickly, but authorities warned that it could spread rapidly throughout the country during the holiday season.
This is the first news reporter Kim Deok-hyun.
<Reporter> The
cumulative number of confirmed cases related to restaurants in Mapo-gu, Seoul and language schools in Gyeonggi-Incheon has risen to 307.
Since the first case of infection was released on the 24th of last month, an average of 25 additional infections per day have been reported.
It is known that the delta mutation is 1.6 times more powerful than the alpha mutation originating in the UK.
In Korea, so far, 416 people have been confirmed with the delta mutation, which is 7 out of 100.
The share of major mutations also increased by nearly 20% in three months.
It is estimated that it is spreading rapidly among young people in their 20s and 30s in multi-use facilities in the metropolitan area.
Quarantine authorities are closely monitoring the possibility of spreading outside the metropolitan area during the holidays and vacation season.
[Jung Eun-kyung/Director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: In their 20s and 30s, the time to test is delayed due to asymptomatic or weak symptoms, and although the vaccination rate is low, the close contact rate is high and the movement route is wide, so the risk of spread of radio waves is high… .]
Delta mutation, however, is reported to be more than 90% effective when the second dose of Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines are completed, so the government is planning to speed up the second dose as much as possible in the second half of this year.
In addition, we decided to distribute gene amplification, that is, PCR diagnostic reagent, to local governments within this month, which can quickly confirm the presence of a delta mutation infection.
(Video coverage: Kim Min-cheol, video editing: Park Jin-hoon)