Confirmed Cases Decrease to Three Digits... Variants and Fatigue Remain Obstacles

12 Variant Virus Infections... Early Judgment That Spread Has Been Curbed

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] On the 6th, the number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) fell to triple digits for the second consecutive day, showing the first decline since the third wave, but experts say it is too early to judge that the spread has been curbed. This is because infections of variant viruses originating from the UK and South Africa continue to occur domestically, and the prolonged COVID-19 situation has pushed the public's fatigue to a critical level, potentially reducing the effectiveness of quarantine measures.

Experts predict that preventing the domestic spread of the UK and South African variant viruses will be the biggest quarantine challenge going forward. Jeong Ki-seok, former director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (and professor of respiratory medicine at Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital), said, "There is a possibility that variant viruses will eventually enter the country in earnest, and given that the majority of the population is concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area, a major disaster is expected if variant viruses spread. Since complete blocking of the virus is difficult, the goal should be to delay its entry into the country as much as possible."

To this end, securing personnel and budget for whole-genome sequencing (WGS) to analyze variant viruses is an urgent priority. Whole-genome sequencing analyzes the entire nucleotide sequence to identify mutations in the genome. Professor Jeong stated, "Whole-genome sequencing requires expensive equipment and takes time for analysis, so support for this is a priority. We need to significantly strengthen testing and establish a regular whole-genome sequencing system to prepare for variant viruses."

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters (CDCH), the number of domestic variant virus infections increased by two, totaling 12. The 11th confirmed case is a foreign national male in his 30s who entered the country from the UK on the 13th of last month, and the 12th confirmed case is a person in their 20s who entered on the 20th of last month. Notably, the 11th confirmed case was on the same flight as a family from Goyang City, Gyeonggi Province, previously confirmed to be infected with the variant virus, making in-flight transmission a possibility. The 11th infected person was seated four rows away from one member of the Goyang family and was initially not included among in-flight contacts.

Lee Sang-won, head of epidemiological investigation and analysis at the CDCH, said, "Both individuals went through quarantine or self-isolation after quarantine, so there is no additional risk of community transmission. However, since in-flight transmission cannot be completely ruled out, passengers on the flight are currently being managed as self-isolation subjects."

In the UK, a variant virus with transmissibility estimated to be up to 70% higher emerged in mid-September last year, and in South Africa, a variant virus was identified in early November last year and has since spread worldwide. According to Public Health England, 10% of people exposed to other coronavirus strains test positive for COVID-19, but 15% of those exposed to the variant virus test positive. Although the case fatality rate of each variant virus case is not high, the increase in infections can lead to more deaths, making response even more critical.

With seasonal factors making it difficult to easily curb the spread and the public's fatigue from the prolonged COVID-19 crisis becoming severe, this is also cited as the biggest challenge for quarantine efforts. Kim Woo-joo, professor of infectious diseases at Korea University Guro Hospital, said, "Rather than raising social distancing levels, repeated pinpoint quarantine measures over a long period may actually reduce vigilance. It is necessary for the quarantine authorities to establish measures supported by scientific evidence."

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