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Today (11th), the number of new corona patients is expected to be around 3,000. The overall spread is now clearly easing. However, I am concerned that the omicron mutation is spreading rapidly. The government expects that the omicron mutation, which has strong transmission power, will become the dominant species in Korea within this month.
Reporter Park Soo-jin.
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The number of Omicron infections in Korea increased by 1,33 in one week to 2,351.
Last week, the number increased by 111 compared to the previous week, and the increase was nearly tenfold in just one week.
The diffusion rate of omicrons is significantly faster compared to delta mutations.
Delta took nearly three months to get more than 2,300 infections, while Omicron took only a month.
The quarantine authorities judge that it will become the dominant species within this month, even if it does not seem fast compared to the United States and the United Kingdom.
[Lee Sang-won / Head of Epidemiological Investigation and Analysis Team, Central Quarantine Countermeasures Headquarters: The spread of Omicron in Korea is now expected to proceed a little faster. By the end of January, it is evaluated that it is highly likely to become dominant.]
There are two cases of Omicron's critical illness identified so far, both of whom are elderly people in their 70s who have completed the vaccination.
[Kim Woo-joo/Professor of Infectious Diseases, Korea University Guro Hospital: It is fortunate that Omicron has a relatively lower severity than Delta.
The government believes that the Lunar New Year holiday, which is approaching on the 20th, will be a watershed in the spread of Omicron, and is preparing a countermeasure.
We plan to increase the capacity of PCR tests per day to a maximum of 850,000 and promote the distribution of rapid self-diagnosis kits that provide results within an hour.
The risk of COVID-19 across the country has been reduced by two stages from 'very dangerous' to 'medium' in 7 weeks. no see.