<Anchor> The
number of new COVID-19 cases increased to 7,000 in one month. This is due to the fast-spreading omic mutations. The reorganization of the quarantine system is also imminent, with the forecast that the number of confirmed cases per day will exceed 10,000 after the Lunar New Year holiday.
First of all, this is reporter Kim Jung-woo.
<Reporter> The
number of newly confirmed COVID-19 cases is 79, an increase of 240 from the previous day.
On the 22nd of last month, the number decreased from 7,400 at one time to 3,000, and then rose again to the level of 7,000 within a month.
This is because the number of highly contagious omicron mutations continues to increase.
The detection rate of Omicron was around 1% at the end of last year, nationwide, and soared to 47.1% this week.
When the detection rate is more than 50%, it is classified as a dominant species, and the period to this close to half is much faster than the delta mutation.
[Kwon Jun-wook/Director of the National Institute of Health: Omicron's own transmission power is very large compared to that of Delta, so the number of confirmed cases is highly likely to increase exponentially.] The
government will take 1 to 2 weeks to respond to the spread of Omicron and wait for COVID-19 We plan to switch the quarantine to the Omicron system.
First, 43 regional respiratory clinics from 4 locations in Gwangju, Jeonnam, Pyeongtaek, and Anseong, where Omicron dominates, will be put into testing and treatment from the 26th.
Nationwide application is decided in consideration of the results of the operation of the new system and the Omicron epidemic situation.
In addition, the government urged people to refrain from traveling as the number of new confirmed cases is expected to increase significantly during the Lunar New Year holiday, and to start with the primary and third vaccinations.
Currently, the third vaccination rate is 48.6% of the total population, and according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the third vaccination has a 66% lower chance of infection with Omicron than the second dose.
(Video editing: Park Ji-in)