[Breaking] Authorities: "Having fewer than 50 confirmed cases is not significant... Must be maintained until after Chuseok to be meaningful"

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon] The quarantine authorities stated on the 29th at midnight that they do not place great significance on the daily confirmed cases dropping to 38.

This appears to be mindful of the epidemic pattern where the number of confirmed cases decreases before holidays but then returns to a spreading trend afterward. A representative example is the cluster infection at entertainment facilities in the Seoul metropolitan area following the golden holiday at the end of April to early May.

Yoon Tae-ho, head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters (hereafter, CDCH) Quarantine General Team at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said in an online briefing with reporters on the same day, "We do not place great significance on the daily confirmed cases falling below 50 for the first time in 49 days," and analyzed, "The number of confirmed cases varies daily and can fluctuate due to the weekend effect." The weekend effect refers to the phenomenon where the number of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) diagnostic tests decreases on weekends, resulting in a reduction in confirmed cases that continues through Monday and Tuesday.

The CDCH emphasized, "We believe it is meaningful only if the overall decreasing trend in daily confirmed cases continues even after the Chuseok holiday."

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