<Anchor>



There were 490,000 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, more than 130,000 more than the day before.

The cumulative number of confirmed cases in Korea has surpassed 10 million.



Reporter Han Seong-hee on the sidewalk.



<Reporter>



Yesterday (22nd), the number of new corona19 confirmed in one day was 490,881, the second highest in history, following 620,000 on the 17th.



The number of new confirmed cases, which decreased to 209,000 over the weekend, returned to an upward trend for the second day.



The death toll was 291, and the number of seriously ill patients was 1,84, 20 fewer than the previous day.



The cumulative number of confirmed cases was 1,427,000, exceeding 10 million for the first time.



The biggest cause of the surge in confirmed cases is the spread of Omicron.



In the third week of January, the detection rate of Omicron in Korea exceeded half, but in the first week of February, it soared to 92%, and the cumulative number of confirmed cases exceeded 1 million.



After a month and a half, the number increased by 9 million.



Some experts say that 1 out of 5 people have been infected and obtained antibodies, so it has met the criteria for stopping the epidemic.



However, the government said that 20% of the population is not an absolute criterion for reducing the epidemic.



[Sohn Young-rae/Chief of Social Strategy Team at Central Accident Remediation Headquarters: 20% is not an absolute line, so depending on how much immunity is secured through vaccination in each country and how the current quarantine system is responding, the peak The timing of this entry may vary.] The



government announced that if confirmed through a professional rapid antigen test conducted at hospitals and hospitals in the future, those over the age of 60 and those with weakened immunity will be managed as a general management group rather than an intensive management group.



Accordingly, in principle, they must manage their own health without receiving confirmation calls from hospitals.



However, if you wish, you can be classified as an intensive management group.