Authorities "Aggressively Conducting Proactive Testing in the Capital Area... Trend of 1,000+ Daily Cases Continues"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jihwan] Recently, the number of new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) in South Korea has continuously reached the 1,000 range daily. The quarantine authorities predicted, "This trend is expected to continue for the time being."

Im Suk-young, head of the Central Disease Control Headquarters' situation management team, stated at the regular briefing on the 19th, "We have identified that the recent infection reproduction number slightly exceeds 1.2," adding, "This means that one infected person infects 1.2 others."

The infection reproduction number is an indicator showing how many people one confirmed case infects around them. If the value is above 1, the spread continues and the number of patients increases; it must fall below 1 for the spread to subside.

Regarding the fact that the number of new domestic confirmed cases has exceeded 1,000 for four consecutive days, Im explained, "There is a very large accumulated source of infection in the community," and "The scale of confirmed cases increases proportionally to the accumulated source of infection."

He said, "Temporary screening clinics are being operated in the metropolitan area, and as of today, a total of 286 confirmed cases have been identified," forecasting, "If hidden infected individuals are found, the number of confirmed cases will increase further."

Im added, "We are currently conducting proactive preemptive testing," and said, "If infection sources are found preemptively, I think the current level of confirmed cases will continue for the time being."

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