Covid-19 cases remain over 20,000 for a second day

Social Affairs

Published: 10 Jul. 2022, 18:00

Covid-19 cases remain over 20,000 for a second day

People stand in a line at a Covid-19 screening clinic at the Yongsan District Public Health Center in central Seoul on Sunday morning. [NEWS1]

Daily Covid-19 cases in Korea remained over 20,000 for a second consecutive day Sunday as the government contemplated new anti-virus measures in response to an ongoing resurgence in infections.

The country recorded 20,410 new Covid-19 infections throughout Saturday, including 250 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 18,511,845, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.

Along with the resurgence in infections, the number of patients in critical condition rose to 67 from the previous day’s 61.

The KDCA reported 19 more deaths, putting the country’s total death toll at 24,643. The fatality rate stood at 0.13 percent.

Daily cases peaked at over 620,000 during the Omicron wave in mid-March, hit a low of 3,423 on June 27, but recently started rapidly climbing again.

The rebound in new infections comes earlier than forecast by health authorities. Cases numbered over 10,000 on June 29, but climbed over 20,000 on Saturday.

Health authorities announced an expected rebound in the daily caseload on Friday, all but admitting the start of a new wave of infections. They attributed the resurgence in new cases to the highly contagious BA.5 mutation of the omicron variant.

The KDCA on Thursday released a press release encouraging fourth vaccine shots for people aged over 59, and urged people 80 or older to get them.

Health authorities are also discussing ways to expand eligibility fourth Covid vaccines.

The groups currently eligible for a fourth dose are people over the age of 59; immuno-compromised people; and residents or workers at nursing hospitals.

“Not all age groups need to be vaccinated with a fourth dose,” said Kim Woo-joo, a professor of infectious diseases at Korea University Guro Hospital.

The vaccines currently in use were made based on the first coronavirus strain to emerge in Wuhan, making it more difficult to prevent infection against the soon-to-be-dominant Omicron sublineage BA.5, which already appears to evade vaccine-acquired immunity.

Omicron-specific Covid vaccines produced by Pfizer and Moderna are expected to be ready by October, but it remains unclear how early they can be sent to Korea.

“It is important to procure the bivalent vaccine boosters as soon as possible,” said Jung Ki-suck, a professor of pulmonary medicine at Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital, who heads the National Infectious Diseases Consulting Committee.

Experts believe that the main drivers of the country’s increasing caseload is not only the BA.5 mutation of the omicron variant, but also increased summer travel, waning public vigilance and diminishing immunity from earlier vaccinations.

The government plans to announce a new set of anti-virus measures on Wednesday.

BY MICHAEL LEE [lee.junhyuk@joongang.co.kr]