Covid-19 hospitalizations jump sixfold over past month

Social Affairs

Covid-19 hospitalizations jump sixfold over past month

Published: 09 Aug. 2024, 16:51

SEO JI-EUN
seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr

An employee displays Covid-19 self-testing kits at a convenience store in Seoul on Wednesday. [NEWS1]

Korea saw a nearly sixfold increase in Covid-19 hospitalizations over the past month, health authorities said Friday.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported that after a steady decline from February, when there were 875 hospitalized Covid-19 patients, the numbers began rising again from late June, according to a survey of 220 hospital-level facilities.

The weekly Covid-19 hospitalizations in Korea from Jan. 1 to Aug. 3 [KDCA]

In the past four weeks, Covid-19 hospitalizations surged from 148 in the second week of July to 226 in the third week, 475 in the fourth week and 861 in the first week of August. This represents a 481.8 percent increase over the recent month.

Patients aged 65 and older made up the largest group, accounting for 8,087 out of 12,407 hospitalizations, or 65.2 percent. Individuals aged 50 to 64 made up 18.1 percent, or 2,251 cases, while patients aged 19 to 49 represented 10.3 percent, or 1,283 cases.

"Although respiratory viruses typically peak in the winter, Covid-19 has also surged during the summer months in the last two years," the KDCA said. "Given this trend, we expect the number of cases to continue rising through the end of August."

The current wave of coronavirus is primarily driven by the Omicron subvariant KP.3, which constituted 45.5 percent of cases last month — a 33.4 percentage point increase from June.

The World Health Organization is monitoring KP.3, which is also driving Covid-19 cases elsewhere around the world.

KP.3 originates from the Omicron JN.1 variant that circulated earlier this year. However, there have been no reports of increased transmissibility or severity of KP.3.

Despite the surge in cases, the government is confident that the existing healthcare system can handle the situation, as 93.8 percent of cases are classified as "moderate".

The government said it will significantly expand the supply of Covid-19 treatments and increase the supply cycle from weekly to biweekly starting this month. Officials are also urging the public to adhere to preventive measures, including proper cough etiquette and handwashing.

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