Photo = Yonhap News
The’third pandemic’ of a new coronavirus infection in Korea (Corona 19) has passed its peak and is showing a decreasing trend. The number of confirmed cases per day has increased to 1,000, but recently decreased to 500.
The government is planning to confirm the steps to keep it there and whether to extend the ban on meetings of five or more people while watching the situation this week.
According to the Central Defense Countermeasure Headquarters (Bangdaebon) on the 14th, as of 0 o’clock the previous day, 562 new cases were confirmed.
Although it increased slightly from the last 12 days (537), it remained at the 500 level for two consecutive days.
As such, it has been about a month since the 2nd to 3rd of last month (511, 540) that the number of confirmed patients in the 500 range came out for two consecutive days.
The number of new confirmed cases to be announced as of 0 o’clock on this day is expected to reach around 500.
From the 7th to the 13th of this month, the number of confirmed cases of regional outbreaks for the last week recorded an average of 593.3 per day. In the metropolitan area, the daily average was 413.4. Compared to the surpassing 1,000 people at the end of December, when the 3rd pandemic was in full swing, the number has decreased significantly.
Tae-ho Yoon, head of quarantine at the Central Accident Control Headquarters, said at a briefing the day before, “a trend of patient decline is appearing, but the pace is still slow and the period is less than two weeks old.”
The quarantine authorities are scheduled to announce a distancing adjustment plan this weekend that will be applied from the 18th. In order to lower the current stage, the average daily number of confirmed cases in the region and the number of confirmed cases in their 60s or older should show a marked decline.
In this situation, the Lunar New Year holiday (2.11-14), which has been approaching for a month or so, is expected to be another variable.
This is because the risk of infection may increase if a large number of people move during the holiday in a situation where the number of confirmed cases is in the hundreds of units as it is now.
To date, the government has secured 56 million vaccines through the COVAX facility, an international project for joint purchase and distribution of vaccines with multinational pharmaceutical companies.
Vaccinations are scheduled to begin next month for workers in high-risk medical institutions, people living in group facilities, and the elderly (65 years or older). In order to form group immunity, the prevalence of infection must be minimized.
“Until February, when vaccinations and treatments are introduced in stages, we need to create a stable situation while suppressing the scale of the outbreak as much as possible,” said Mr. Yoon. “Please cancel all private meetings and meetings until this week.”
Eunji Cha, reporter Hankyung.com [email protected]
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