Cases hit record, 1-in-10 people have had Covid

Social Affairs

Published: 09 Mar. 2022, 17:54 Updated: 09 Mar. 2022, 19:44

Cases hit record, 1-in-10 people have had Covid

People wait in line to get tested for Covid-19 at a screening center in Daegu on Wednesday.

Korea reported a record 342,446 new Covid-19 infections on election day, and one in 10 people in the country have contracted the virus.

Wednesday's count was up 139,726 from the previous day, or 68.9 percent, and crossed the 300,000 mark for the first time. All but 58 cases were locally transmitted, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

The total caseload now stands at 5,212,118, exceeding 5 million for the first time. That is 10.2 percent of the country's total population of 51.3 million people.

On Feb. 28, health authorities warned the pandemic would peak at up to 350,000 daily cases around mid-March based on the predictions made by research institutes. After then, the government scrapped the vaccine pass system to get into restaurants, bars and cafes, and the mandatory quarantine of virus patients’ cohabitants. It also relaxed a curfew on businesses by an hour to 11 p.m. Such eased public health measures, along with and more transmissible strain of the virus known as “Stealth Omicron,” led to the sharp rise in infections.

Medical experts now say Korea's Omicron peak will arrive in one to two weeks.

“The peak of the wave may last over the next two weeks starting Wednesday," said Jung Jae-hun, a professor of preventive medicine at Gachon University College of Medicine, in a Facebook post on the previous day. “There’s a chance that the daily tally announced on March 9, 11, 15, and 16 will be the largest number of infections.”

This is based on the premise that virus transmission generally slows down after infecting 20 to 40 percent of the total population. If more than 300,000 people are infected daily for the next two weeks, the cumulative tally will reach 10 million, or 20 percent of the population.

Virus-related fatalities and critically cases also soared this week.

The number of Covid-19 patients in critical condition climbed to 1,087 as of Tuesday midnight, referring to those who require oxygen treatment (such as high-flow oxygen therapy), mechanical ventilation (being put on a respirator), extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) or continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT).

The figure climbed by 80 from the day before and stayed in the 1,000s for two consecutive days. Of them, people in their 60s or older accounted for 85 percent, or 925 people.

A total of 1,625 people were hospitalized in Covid I.C.U.s, occupying 59 percent of all beds. Besides the critical case counts presented by the government, this includes very ill patients hospitalized for their underlying conditions such as strokes, angina, and kidney problems that were made worse by Covid.

The government forecast critically ill patients to rise over 1,200 by Wednesday, and reach between 1,700 and 2,750 in mid- to late-March.

The country added 158 more virus deaths on Wednesday. Among the fatalities, aged 60 or older were 91 percent of the total, or 144 people.

Critical cases and fatalities tend to increase one to two weeks after a surge in new infections. Regarding worries over a possible hospital bed shortage, the government maintained that the medical system is “stable in managing” up to 2,000 critical patients, and can manage 500 more if hospital beds are used efficiently.

But medical experts had a less sanguine view.

“The actual number of critical patients that can be handled is about 1,800,” Prof. Jung said.

He added, “The final crisis of the Omicron wave is expected to be around late March to early April, when the number of critical cases will reach its maximum.”

Considering soaring new infections and demands for PCR tests, Korea will reduce from Thursday the required number of PCR tests for certain groups — including entrants from overseas, employees at high-risk facilities such as at nursing hospitals, and enlisted soldiers.

Overseas arrivals currently have to undergo two PCR tests, including a first test on Day 1, the day after their arrival, and a second on Day 7.

But from Thursday, PCR test will only be required once on Day 1, while the test on Day 7 will be replaced with a rapid antigen test. This comes as most imported virus cases were detected from the Day 1 test.

BY SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]