Covid reinfection numbers remain stubbornly high in Korea

Social Affairs

Published: 01 Feb. 2023, 18:33 Updated: 01 Feb. 2023, 19:10

Covid reinfection numbers remain stubbornly high in Korea

Travelers off to Shanghai stand in line to check in for their flights at Incheon International Airport on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

Covid reinfections remain common despite a general downward trend in the number of new cases.

In the third week of January, 22.8 percent of those who tested positive had had Covid previously. This is up from 21.48 percent the previous week, according to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters. This means one out of five people has been reinfected with Covid-19.

Of all positive tests, 48.9 percent indicated the Omicron BN.1 variant, making it the most prevalent.

BN.1 is a subvariant of BA.2.75, also known as the Centaurus variant, and has been rapidly spreading in the country. But the rapid spread is not seen as a threat to the country, yet.

“The BN.1 subvariant is not seen to be largely affecting the severity of the infections and the overall infection situation in the country,” said Lim Sook-young, director of the infectious disease crisis bureau at the Central Disease Control Headquarters in a press briefing Wednesday.

BN.1 is the fifth most prevalent variant nationwide, followed by the Delta, BA.1, BA.2 and BA.5 strains.

The number of reinfections is on the rise as the effects of vaccination and natural immunity are dropping.

“The reinfection rate is rising because the immunity level has been decreasing continuously since the Omicron infection was prevalent in February and March last year,” said Lim. “There is a risk of reinfection as there are many people who have not taken their fourth dose.”

Despite the spread of the BN.1 strain in the country, the number of new Covid-19 cases dropped. The daily average number of infections in the fourth week of January was 21,146, down 29 percent compared to the previous week. The number of critically ill patients dropped 3.3 percent and the number of deaths plunged 35.8 percent during the same period.

Confirmed cases for arrivals from China also fell. Of the 7,399 arrivals from China in the fourth week of January, 146 tested positive, according to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters.

This is a 0.9 percentage points drop compared to the previous week.

“Longer monitoring is needed as there was a massive amount of travel during the Lunar New Year holiday in China,” the authorities said.

All arrivals from China are required to take a PCR test. Korea has also stopped issuing short-term visas to Chinese nationals as the number of Covid-19 infections surged in China.

A complete lifting of the indoor mask mandate is also to be further considered as the World Health Organization said Monday Covid-19 remains a global health emergency.

Korea has lifted its indoor mask mandate, but people are still required to wear masks at medical facilities and on public transportation.

Korea reported 20,420 new Covid-19 infections Wednesday, up 882 compared to the same day in the previous week, but 16,488 lower compared to two weeks earlier.

BY CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]