South Korea's COVID-19 Spread Slow and Gradual but Showing a Declining Trend

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Amid the ongoing spread of COVID-19 in South Korea, the number of severe patients requiring urgent treatment has increased to the 400s.

Since January 2nd, when the spread of the '3rd wave' began in earnest (101 cases), the daily confirmed cases have consistently remained in the triple digits, increasing more than fourfold in just one month.

Additionally, the number of confirmed infections with the UK variant virus has risen to 15, adding to concerns.

Nevertheless, it appears clear that the current situation has entered a 'gradual decline phase.' As of midnight on the 8th, the daily new confirmed cases in South Korea were 674, with all but two days since the start of the new year recording fewer than 1,000 cases. Although the daily average of new cases remains in the 800s and has not yet met the criteria for easing 'social distancing,' the key indicator for adjusting stages, the 'recent one week (January 1?7) local transmission cases,' has decreased to a daily average of 818 from 833.6 on the 7th.

Notably, the infection reproduction number (R) last week fell below 1 for the first time during the 3rd wave, raising the possibility of a decrease in confirmed cases and drawing attention.

The infection reproduction number for the first week of this year, as announced by the quarantine authorities, ranged between 0.93 and 1. Since a value below 1 indicates a reduction in the scale of infection, this is significant.

Meanwhile, countries around the world continue to struggle with COVID-19 even in the new year.

The UK, where the variant virus was first confirmed last month, is experiencing the worst new year due to its rapid transmissibility. On the 5th, the UK recorded over 60,000 (60,916) new daily confirmed cases for the first time since the COVID-19 outbreak, with cumulative deaths exceeding 78,000.

The United States, which has suffered the greatest damage globally with 22.13 million cumulative confirmed cases and 370,000 deaths, is also in a serious situation.

In Los Angeles, the largest city in the western US, one person dies every 15 minutes, and one in 17 people is infected. CNN reported that COVID-19 ranked third among the leading causes of death in the US last year, following heart disease and cancer.

Although more countries have started vaccination, the momentum of COVID-19 has not subsided. Despite strengthening or extending social distancing measures in the new year, the vaccination pace has not caught up with the spread due to vaccine supply shortages.

Israel is preparing for a full lockdown closing all schools and businesses such as shops, Germany has restricted movement within a 15 km radius of residences, and the UK has expanded lockdown policies across England.

Social distancing remains the best measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The slow and gradual decline in South Korea’s spread is also a result of social distancing. As the district mayor, I once again thank all Gangnam-gu residents for enduring inconvenience and difficulties and showing high civic awareness by quietly following the government’s social distancing guidelines.

I ask everyone to thoroughly observe daily quarantine rules for ourselves and each other throughout this year as well.

I will explain the current COVID-19 status and major policies in Gangnam-gu.

Status of Confirmed Cases

From the afternoon of the 7th to the 8th, confirmed cases numbered 1003 to 1011 occurred in Gangnam-gu. Case 1004 is a family member of a previously confirmed Gangnam-gu resident, case 1011 was infected through contact with a confirmed Gangnam-gu resident, cases 1005 and 1009 were infected through contact with confirmed cases from other regions, cases 1007 and 1010 were confirmed after testing following overseas entry, cases 1003 and 1006 were confirmed after symptoms such as muscle pain, and case 1008 was confirmed without symptoms but with an unknown infection route, currently under epidemiological investigation.

Status of Self-Quarantined Individuals

As of the 8th, Gangnam-gu manages 1,089 self-quarantined individuals, of whom 806 are overseas entrants and 283 are domestic contacts.

Number of Specimen Tests

The cumulative number of specimen tests conducted at Gangnam-gu Public Health Center’s screening clinics and temporary screening centers is 153,535. On the 7th, among 1,466 tested, 66 were overseas entrants and 1,400 were domestic residents.

Closing Remarks

The Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that it will systematically manage infectious diseases by establishing an early warning system capable of real-time monitoring, risk assessment, and prediction of infectious diseases in the new year.

In this regard, Gangnam-gu opened and operates the country’s first 'Smart Infectious Disease Management Center' in November last year, enabling one-stop infection management with a single QR code.

Also, following the principle of 'early detection, early containment' from the early stages of the outbreak, proactive specimen testing has resulted in over 150,000 tests conducted in Gangnam-gu.

Despite Gangnam-gu having the highest number of specimen tests among 82 screening clinics across Seoul, the positivity rate calculated by confirmed cases relative to tests as of the 7th is 0.65%, less than half of the national rate of 1.46% (65,818 confirmed cases out of 4,504,868 tests). This is the result of a well-maintained, tightly-knit quarantine system established early on.

Due to the recent cold wave warning, the four temporary screening centers in Gangnam-gu (near Exit 6 of Samsung Station, Gaepo Digital Innovation Park, Bangjuk Small Park in Segok-dong, and Apgujeong 428 Public Parking Lot) will operate with reduced hours from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. through the weekend.

On the other hand, the Gangnam-gu Smart Infectious Disease Management Center will continue its usual hours, operating from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekdays and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on weekends. Please take note.

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