'Unknown Infection Routes' Reach Double Digits... COVID-19 Escaping Quarantine Network

In the Past Two Weeks, 1 in 10 'Kkamkkami Patients'
Since Mid-Last Month, Over 10%... Challenges in Epidemiological Investigation

On the 8th, at the screening clinic set up at Gwanak-gu Public Health Center in Seoul, citizens are waiting to get tested as secondary infections related to Richway, a multi-level marketing company selling health products for the elderly, continue to spread. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] As domestic COVID-19 cases are occurring nationwide beyond the metropolitan area and Daejeon, the proportion of 'unknown infection route patients'?so-called 'dark patients'?has reached double digits. The quarantine authorities consider a 'rate of unknown infection route cases below 5%' as a manageable level for the domestic medical system, but this threshold has long been broken.

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters on the 2nd, among 652 confirmed cases over the past two weeks since the 17th, 68 patients (10.4%) had unknown initial infection routes. This is twice the baseline of 'unknown infection route rate below 5%' set by the existing social distancing quarantine system.

The rate of unknown infection route cases first exceeded 10% on the 15th of last month, then rose to a record high of 11.8% on the 29th, before dropping back to the 10% range the day before. Compared to early last month when confirmed cases centered around logistics centers and religious gatherings in the metropolitan area were in the single digits (7.5%), the number of dark patients has surged sharply within a month.

This can be interpreted as indicating that 'silent transmission' within the community has already progressed significantly. The quarantine authorities are facing difficulties in preemptively blocking transmission or predicting infection routes because 1 out of 10 new patients cannot have their infection routes identified. Large-scale cluster infections in specific groups such as Shincheonji and Itaewon clubs involved many patients but allowed for management of confirmed cases and contacts. However, small-scale cluster infections are harder to respond to because it is difficult to identify symptomatic individuals. Recently, the speed of epidemiological investigations has not kept pace with the rate of new cases for this reason.

Following the metropolitan area and Daejeon, infections of various sizes are occurring in Daejeon, Chungbuk, Gwangju, and other regions, with cases where the initial infection route has not been identified continuing to be confirmed. The Gwangnyeoksa case in Gwangju, which has so far confirmed 19 cases, also has an unknown initial infection route. At an elementary school in Daejeon, a confirmed case presumed to be due to in-school infection has occurred, but the infection route has not yet been identified.

Currently, the quarantine authorities are maintaining social distancing at level 1. The rate of unknown infection routes should be below 5% at level 1, and a sharp increase should be confirmed at level 3. As the summer vacation season begins in earnest and the risk of nationwide spread increases, there are calls to raise the social distancing level.

The quarantine authorities intend to maintain the current level 1. Son Young-rae, head of the Central Accident Response Headquarters Strategic Planning Team, said, "Since patient treatment is still manageable, there is no need for society as a whole to bear sacrifices." However, an upgrade is possible if necessary. Yoon Tae-ho, head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters Quarantine General Team, stated, "If the trend of confirmed cases continues to increase, we can consider moving to level 2 at that time."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.