Even in the strong cold▶ Click here for a larger view
The government evaluated that the momentum of the’third pandemic’ of the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19) has been easing and the number of confirmed cases is decreasing.
At a regular briefing held at the government office in Seoul on the 10th, Son Young-rae, head of the Social Strategy Division, diagnosed the recent outbreak of Corona 19, saying, “The third epidemic has passed its peak and is showing a decreasing trend.”
According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters (middle script), from the 3rd to 9th of this month, the number of new confirmed cases of local outbreaks in the last 1 week averaged 738.1 per day, down 193.2 from 931.3 in the previous week (December 27, 2020).
Among them, the number of confirmed patients aged 60 or older classified as’high-risk group’ decreased from 284.1 to 247.6.
When looking at the daily average of confirmed cases by region, 520.9 in the metropolitan area and 217.3 in the non-capital area.
Reflecting this situation, the’Infection Reproduction Index’, which shows how many people one confirmed person infects, also fell.
The infection reproductive index, estimated based on the confirmed cases in the last week, was 0.88, which was lower than the previous week (1.0), and fell below 1 If this number falls below 1, it means that the spread is being suppressed.
Other quarantine management indicators were also found to have improved.
The number of new group infections has decreased significantly in the last week from 46 to 10, and the “management rate within the quarantine network,” which means the proportion of new confirmed cases who are confirmed in self-isolation, has risen to 40%.
There have been no confirmed patients waiting for more than one day in the metropolitan area since the 3rd of this month.
“The current medical system is in a situation where there is ample capacity,” said Mr. Son, saying, “It is not a situation to be relieved because it is still in the early stages of (the incidence of confirmed patients) and the rate is slowly falling,” he cautioned again.
In particular, he explained, “When looking at the path of infection, the proportion of group infections from the 60% range in mid-November dropped to 30% last week. On the other hand, the proportion of contact with confirmed patients rose from the 20% range in mid-November to 40% last week.”
He said, “It means that the current trend is driven by personal contact, such as appointments, meetings, and trips, rather than multi-use facilities,” he said. said.
He added, “This is a very important time in that more stable quarantine responses will be possible from February through vaccinations and treatments,” he added. “Please cancel all meetings and appointments for the next week and minimize contact between people.”
Comparison of recent quarantine management situation▶ Click here for a larger view
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