On the 10th, a medical team is testing for Corona 19 at the Temporary Screening Test Center at Seoul Station on the 10th, where 665 new corona19 patients per day were counted. Newsis
As the number of newly confirmed coronavirus infections (Corona 19) in Korea fell to 600 for three consecutive days, the quarantine authorities assessed that the third pandemic is passing its peak. If the decline continues this week, there are also observations that the current reinforced social distancing and the distancing stage will go down after the 17th, when the quarantine measures for the year-end and New Year ends. For industries that are prohibited from collectively, the government is already reviewing a plan to allow operations on the premise of compliance with quarantine regulations.
Experts, however, diagnosed that although it is true that the momentum of the 3rd pandemic has declined somewhat, it is still far from the level of reassurance. This is because the stagnant group infection is spreading again in some facilities, such as churches, and the so-called’corona red’ phenomenon, which is opposed to prolonged high-intensity distancing, is also appearing. It is an immediate situation where the embers still in various places do not know when the spread of Corona 19 will increase again.
Quarantine authorities “passed the peak of the 3rd epidemic and declined”
At a regular briefing at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (middle script) held on the afternoon of the 10th, Son Young-rae, head of the Central Accident Control Headquarters, said, “The third epidemic has passed the peak and is showing a decreasing trend.” As of 0 o’clock on this day, the number of new corona19 confirmed cases in Korea was 665, and as the third consecutive day continued in the 600 range, the spread of the third epidemic was’reversed’. Prime Minister Jeong Sye-gyun also diagnosed that “the spread of Corona 19 has passed the peak and gradually calmed down” at a critical script meeting the day before.
In fact, last week (January 3 to 9), the average number of corona19 patients per day in Korea was 738, down 193 from 931 patients in the previous week (December 27 to January 2). Last week, the infectious material production index also fell to 0.88, falling below 1 for the first time since mid-October. If the infection reproduction index is 1, it means that 1 confirmed person infects at least 1 person.
However, among experts, there is a view that such a decline is an’optical illusion’. Eun-mi Cheon, a professor of respiratory internal medicine at Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital, analyzed that “the number of confirmed cases may have decreased as there are many people who do not go to the examination even if the amount of activity decreases due to the effects of heavy snowfall and cold waves, and suspicious symptoms appear.” In fact, the total number of Corona 19 tests on that day was 56,298 and the number of temporary screening tests in the metropolitan area was 22,450, the lowest since the 2nd, just after the New Year’s holiday.
Sporadic group infection persists… mutant virus is also a variable
Experts are concerned that sporadic group infections across the country are still lined up, and the number of patients may increase again at any time. In particular, it is pointed out that the spread of the infection from the BTJ Universal Center, a facility belonging to the International Mission Group (Intercorp), is not serious. As of the 9th, of the 2,837 visitors to the center, only 30.7% (872) were tested, of which 17.6% (154) were confirmed. Considering that close to 2,000 people have not yet undergone diagnostic tests, there may be an increase in confirmed cases among them for the time being. Prof. Chun pointed out, “Because I attended churches all over the country, it could lead to a greater spread than the Shincheonji incident in February and March last year, which was limited to Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions.”
Mutant viruses originating in the UK and South Africa are also a source of anxiety. On the 8th, an additional person infected with the mutant virus from the UK came out, and the number of confirmed domestic mutant infection cases increased to 16. There were 15 cases from the UK and 1 from South Africa. Direct flights from those countries have been stopped, but it is practically difficult to block entry through transit. In fact, as of 0 o’clock on that day, one person entering South Africa was confirmed to have Corona 19, and the quarantine authorities are conducting an analysis of the full-length genome (the entire corona 19 virus gene) to determine whether or not a mutant infection has occurred.
Government “It’s not easy to maintain a ban on gatherings”… Experts “must make sure of quarantine before the New Year holidays”
It is also highly likely that the people’s feelings of quarantine fatigue are increasing, which will be a negative factor. In the case of the metropolitan area, the 2.5 step of distance has been implemented for more than a month, and the phenomenon of self-employed people who have been hit by their livelihoods expressing anger beyond depression is in full swing. Even cases of dissatisfaction or deviation from quarantine measures began to appear. In Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, two men in their thirties who were confirmed confirmed turned off their cell phones and went to sleep for three days.
In the meantime, the government suggested the possibility of easing some of the quarantine measures, such as allowing conditional business operations for industries prohibited from gathering after a week. “Considering the difficulties and grievances of the public welfare economy, we agree that it is not easy to maintain the ban on gatherings even after the 17th.” “We are looking at it in the possible direction.”
However, after the government implemented quarantine measures in September-October while ensuring the operation of industries with high risk of infection, the infection in the local community eventually spread, and a third outbreak began in November. Kim Woo-joo, a professor of infectious medicine at Korea University’s Guro Hospital, stressed, “We expect the Lunar New Year holiday to be a big hurdle next month, when there are many mobiles,” and emphasized that “we need to reduce the number of new infections with more reliable quarantine before that.”
Yu Hwan-gu reporter [email protected]
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