97 Additional Variant Cases Confirmed... Ulsan Has 60% of Cases Infected with Variant (Update)

Variant Analysis Speed... 14.4% Variant Analysis Rate Over 1 Week
Ulsan's Variant Detection Rate Exceeds 60% Over 6 Weeks
Facility Quarantine for Indian Arrivals Reduced to 7 Days... Strengthened Quarantine Measures

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ji-hee] As the spread of domestic COVID-19 variant viruses is rapidly increasing, health authorities are on high alert.

Lee Sang-won, head of the Epidemiological Investigation and Analysis Team at the Central Disease Control Headquarters, stated at the regular COVID-19 briefing on the 4th, "In the past week, 97 cases of variant viruses were additionally confirmed through genetic analysis." All cases involved the three major variant viruses from the UK, Brazil, and South Africa, with 87 cases of the UK variant and 10 cases of the South African variant. As a result, a total of 632 variant virus infections have been confirmed since October last year.

The government has recently increased variant analysis to block the spread of variant viruses. As of the 1st, the variant virus analysis rate for the past week was 14.4%. Among a total of 656 virus analyses conducted during this period, variants were confirmed in 97 cases, accounting for 14.8%.

Among these, 22 cases were imported from overseas. Nine tested positive at the entry quarantine stage, 12 during tests conducted while in self-quarantine after entry, and one tested positive after exemption from quarantine. Of the 75 domestic cases, 50 were part of cluster infections, and 25 were individual infection cases not yet classified as cluster infections.

On the 30th, citizens are waiting to be tested at the COVID-19 Jung-gu temporary screening clinic set up at Seoul Station Plaza. The government extended the current social distancing levels?Level 2 in the metropolitan area and Level 1.5 in non-metropolitan areas?for three more weeks until the 23rd of next month. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

In particular, Ulsan has become a high-risk area for variant viruses recently. An investigation conducted on 80 people in the Ulsan region since March found that 51 were confirmed to have the UK variant.

Park Young-jun, head of the Epidemiological Investigation Team at the Central Disease Control Headquarters, said, "It is true that the detection rate of variant viruses in the Ulsan region is high. The statistics have exceeded 60% over six weeks," adding, "We believe this is the result of some people missing community tracking since mid-March, causing the transmission chains not to be fully blocked."

He continued, "As hidden infections or cases under investigation for infection routes accumulate, they account for a large proportion in the Ulsan region," and added, "The Central Disease Control Headquarters, the Gyeongnam Regional Disease Response Center, and Ulsan City have formed a basic framework for variant blocking measures through on-site countermeasure meetings. A response team was organized and has been implementing measures since Monday (the 3rd)."

Meanwhile, to prevent the spread of variant viruses, the government has strengthened quarantine management for entrants coming from India, where confirmed cases are rapidly increasing. Initially, after entry, a 1-night, 2-day facility quarantine was required, and if a negative test result was confirmed, self-quarantine was possible; however, the facility quarantine period has been extended to 7 days.

Lee said, "The reason for strengthening quarantine standards for India is largely related to India's high COVID-19 incidence rate," adding, "Currently, more than 400,000 patients are occurring daily in India, and many experts believe this number is underestimated." He explained, "From the beginning, we decided on a 7-day facility quarantine as a more proactive measure."

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