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There are signs of a great spread of micron mutations. Today (21st), the number of new corona cases is expected to exceed 7,000. The current medical system is approaching the limit, and the government has slightly relaxed the timing of the transition to Omicron's response stage compared to when it was first presented.
Reporter Lee Han-seok reports.
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As of midnight on the 20th, there were 6,603 new confirmed cases of Corona, which broke the 6,000 level for the first time in 27 days since the 24th of last month.
The count by 9 pm yesterday evening also increased by 1,900 compared to the 3,900 at the same time period on the 13th, a week ago. There is a possibility that it will exceed the number of people.
All are due to the omicron mutation that is spreading rapidly in the community.
As of the 15th, the national detection rate of Omicron was 26.7%, and especially in Honam, 59.2%, which was already the dominant species.
[Park Young-joon / Head of Epidemiological Investigation Team, Central Quarantine Countermeasures Headquarters: (Omicron) The Nth infection in the community was confirmed until the 11th transmission. Areas with a low (detection rate) are expected to rise rapidly... .]
The test positive rate, which means the rate of confirmation out of the total number of tests, has risen to the 3% level this week.
The government previously stated that 7,000 confirmed cases per day was the standard to immediately switch to the Omicron response stage.
But the government suddenly changed its mind.
He said that when the average number of confirmed cases in the community rises to the 7,000 level, the transition point will be determined.
Both the time point and the criteria are not clear.
The government urged people to receive the vaccine before the Lunar New Year holiday, which is the peak of the spread, saying that the neutralizing antibody to Omicron increases by 29 times during the third vaccination.