Daily Covid cases top 13,000, greatest by far

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Daily Covid cases top 13,000, greatest by far

Health workers supervise people taking Covid-19 rapid antigen tests at a public health center in Gwangju Wednesday, the first day a new testing and treatment system tailored to the spread of Omicron was implemented in four areas of the country. Starting Feb. 3, the system will be expanded nationwide, and rapid antigen tests will replace PCR tests, except for people aged over 60 or high-risk groups, while local hospitals and clinics will test and treat patients. [JANG JUNG-PIL]

Health workers supervise people taking Covid-19 rapid antigen tests at a public health center in Gwangju Wednesday, the first day a new testing and treatment system tailored to the spread of Omicron was implemented in four areas of the country. Starting Feb. 3, the system will be expanded nationwide, and rapid antigen tests will replace PCR tests, except for people aged over 60 or high-risk groups, while local hospitals and clinics will test and treat patients. [JANG JUNG-PIL]

Daily Covid-19 cases surged over 13,000 Wednesday, the highest ever for Korea.  
 
Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said in a Covid-19 response meeting, "In just a few days since Omicron became the dominant variant, the number of daily confirmed cases exceeded 13,000."
 
The country reported 13,012 new cases Wednesday, bringing total infections to 762,983, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).  
 
This broke the record of 8,571 cases the previous day. But critical cases remain low compared to when Delta was the dominant strain. 
 
"While we should avoid complacency in our response, there is no need to be overcome with excessive anxiety," said Kim.  
 
Going forward, he said, the country's strategy will be to prioritize reducing critical cases and deaths.  
 
On Wednesday, Korea began a new testing and treatment regimen in some areas of the country tailored to the spread of the Omicron variant, which became the dominant strain nationwide as of Monday.  
 
The system will start in four areas that have seen particularly rapid rises in Omicron cases: Gwangju, South Jeolla, and Gyeonggi's Pyeongtaek and Anseong.  
 
Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests at district public health center screening clinics will no longer be offered for free to everyone. Instead, they will be prioritized for people who are 60 or older, epidemiologically linked to virus patients, have a doctor's note citing the need for a Covid-19 test, are subject to preemptive testing regularly, or tested positive on a self-testing kit or rapid antigen test.
 
The quarantine period for fully inoculated people who test positive was reduced from 10 to seven days, while that for unvaccinated patients remains at 10 days. However, the last three days of their quarantine will be voluntary and patients won't be monitored by local authorities.  
 
Rapid antigen tests will be available at 256 testing sites across the country from Saturday.
 
Starting Feb. 3, after the Lunar New Year holiday, people will be able to take Covid-19 tests at designated local hospitals and clinics across the country.  
 
Under the new system, local hospitals and clinics will administer tests and treat patients, and rapid antigen tests will replace PCR tests at testing sites, except for people over 60 or high-risk groups.
 
People will be able to take a rapid antigen test, instead of a PCR test, which will be provided by testing sites free of charge. Those over 60 who would rather take a rapid antigen test will also be able to.  
 
Anybody who wants to get a PCR test will still be able to through Feb. 2, ahead of the shift to the new system.  
 
There are a total of 431 respiratory clinics and hospitals specializing in respiratory illnesses nationwide.
 
The Omicron variant, which studies show to be over twice as transmissible as the highly contagious Delta strain, is spreading quicker than health officials expected.  
 
Prime Minister Kim said, "If the nearest hospitals and clinics take part in Covid-19 testing, diagnosis and treatment, we will be able to respond more quickly and efficiently to Omicron." 
 
Korea's domestic PCR testing capacity is 800,000 tests per day.  
 
Daily cases hit five digits Wednesday for the first time since the first Omicron case was detected in the country 56 days ago.  
 
Korea reported 32 fatalities, according to the KDCA, raising total deaths to 6,620.  
 
There were 385 critically ill coronavirus patients, down seven from the previous day.
 
Experts point out that while the number of cases doubled over the past week, critical cases remain low.  
 
There were 32,505 coronavirus patients being treated at home. There are 369 medical institutions monitoring at-home patients. They have a maximum capacity to monitor around 58,000 at-home patients.  
 
Of 12,743 domestic transmissions, 3,110 cases were reported in Seoul, 4,184 in Gyeonggi and 860 in Incheon. This marks the first time cases in Gyeonggi surpassed 4,000. There were 269 imported cases.  
 
Health authorities warned that daily cases could soar to over 30,000 next month, especially if many people travel over the Lunar New Year holiday, which begins this weekend. They could surpass 100,000 by the end of February at the current rate of the spread of the Omicron variant, according to experts.  
 
Health officials say they will focus less on the daily count and more on the number of critical cases, deaths and medical capacity.
 
President Moon Jae-in presided over a Covid-19 response meeting Wednesday afternoon, his first official schedule after ending three days of isolation following his return from a Middle East tour Saturday.  
 
The meeting was attended by Cabinet officials included the ministers of education, health and welfare and interior and safety, and KDCA Commissioner Jung Eun-kyung.  
 
Moon ordered officials to proceed with Omicron response system and address any possible shortcomings including unstable supplies of test kits.  
 
The president said that it is "necessary to speed along the decision-making process on the Omicron response policy," according to Park Soo-hyun, senior presidential secretary for public communication.
 
Moon noted that there is currently a "sufficient amount of self-testing kits or rapid antigen tests, [but] there could be supply and demand problems," including deliveries to local clinics in the initial stage.  
 
While noting that the country has successfully secured more hospital beds for Covid-19 patients, Moon said this is an area that needs to be focused on.  
 
The government is in the process of designating local clinics to participate in Covid-19 testing and treatment. Further details will be revealed Friday.  
 
The government is discussing with the Korean Medical Association (KMA) a one-stop system where people with Covid-19 symptoms can get tested, diagnosed and monitored for at-home treatment through neighborhood clinics.  
 
Through this system, a patient is expected to be able to visit their nearest clinic and pay a medical examination fee of 5,000 won, get tested, and, if positive for Covid-19, remain at home for seven days under the supervision of the clinic. Eligible people can be prescribed the Covid-19 oral antiviral treatment.  
 
From Thursday, funeral guidelines will be changed so that patients who died from Covid-19 may be cremated after funerals. For the past two years, dying patients were usually quarantined and family members did not get to see their remains before they were cremated.  
 

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]
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