Korea's sixth Covid wave might be smaller but longer

People wait in line to get tested for Covid-19 at a public health center in Gangnam, southern Seoul, on Sunday. [YONHAP]

New Covid-19 cases topped 100,000 for the sixth consecutive day on Sunday as Korea's sixth virus wave struggles to peak.

Korea reported 105,507 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Cases tend to decline on weekends when fewer tests are conducted, but the daily tally stayed above 100,000 for six days in a row since Aug. 2.

Sunday’s figure was 1.43 times larger than a week before, and 1.61 times two weeks ago.

Health authorities and experts predict the current BA.5 wave to peak next week at the earliest.

Professor Jung Jae-hun from the preventive medicine department at Gachon University College of Medicine wrote in a Facebook post on Aug. 2 that the peak of the wave will come between the first or second week of August. Jung added that the size of the wave may be smaller than the government’s previous prediction of up to 300,000 new cases a day.

In a briefing held on Aug. 4, Lee Sang-won, head of the epidemiological investigations team at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, said the size of the wave would be “between 110,000 to 190,000” at its peak, with its median to be “around 150,000.”

Yet the effect of summer vacation remains an unpredictable variable.

“Although the size of the peak is low, it may last longer than expected,” KDCA Commissioner Peck Kyong-ran said in Aug. 4’s briefing.

“Over time, the number of people with waning immunity will increase further, new variants may be found, and [...] increased contact during the summer holiday season [is a factor],” she added.

Covid-19 cases imported from overseas are also rising following an increase in the number of international arrivals.

Of Sunday’s new cases, 484 were imported from overseas, down by 89 from the previous day. Korea’s imported cases have been hovering around 400 to 500 over the past week.

A total of 16 people so far have been confirmed to have contracted the BA.2.75 Centaurus variant, and all but three were imported from abroad.

Authorities remain on alert over critical cases and fatalities, as they tend to increase two to three weeks after the rise of infections.

The number of Covid-19 patients in critical condition totaled 297 as of Saturday midnight, while 27 more people died from Covid-19.

Authorities have called for active prescription of Covid-19 pills for high-risk groups including people aged over 59 whose symptoms are more likely to deteriorate after catching the virus.

“The prescription rate for Paxlovid is quite low [in Korea],” said Jung Ki-suck, head of the National Infectious Diseases Consulting Committee.

“If the pills are well prescribed, they can be groundbreaking as they can reduce the number of I.C.U. hospitalizations and deaths by half,” Jung added.

From Monday, Korea will start giving out Evusheld, or AstraZeneca's antibody treatment, to immunocompromised people.

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