Jung Eun-kyung "Concerns Over Variant Spread... Focus on Blocking 'South Africa Variant' with Low Vaccine and Treatment Effectiveness" (Update)

"Early Extensive Diagnostic Testing and Contact Investigation Management Focused on Blocking Variant Spread"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ji-hee] The quarantine authorities recently expressed concern over the spread of COVID-19 variant viruses and stated that they are focusing on blocking the South African variant, which has reduced vaccine and treatment efficacy.

Jung Eun-kyung, Commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), said at the regular briefing of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters on June 6, "Currently, variant viruses are increasingly being identified as the dominant strains worldwide, with the UK variant accounting for more than 70% in the European region."

Commissioner Jung added, "Cluster cases caused by the UK variant have been reported in Ulsan and the Gyeongnam region, as well as in some parts of Gyeonggi Province. In the Gyeongbuk region, the California variant from the United States is mainly being isolated. We are concerned about the increasing spread of variant viruses," and explained, "Our blocking measures against variant viruses focus on early and extensive diagnostic testing and contact tracing management to prevent not only outbreaks but also the spread of variant viruses."

He expressed particular concern about the South African variant. Commissioner Jung said, "The South African variant has reduced effectiveness against vaccines and treatments, so we are focusing on blocking this more severe variant," and explained, "When cases of the South African variant occur domestically, we concentrate on preventing its spread through extensive contact management."

Recently, confirmed cases of variant virus infections have been rapidly increasing domestically. Last week (April 25 to May 1), genetic amplification tests were conducted on 656 domestic COVID-19 confirmed cases, and variants were detected in 97 cases. The cumulative number of infections reached 632. The variant detection rate relative to the number of analyzed cases recorded double digits last week (14.8%) following 15.8% the previous week.

Commissioner Jung said, "We have been analyzing variant viruses continuously since October to November last year, and the isolation rate of variant viruses has increased somewhat in March and April," adding, "It is believed that viruses known to have higher transmissibility and infectivity are somewhat influencing the spread of the epidemic."

However, he noted that it is difficult to say that the spread of variant viruses has suddenly accelerated, evaluating, "Since the main virus type in the recent outbreaks in the Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongnam regions has been confirmed as the UK variant, the scale has recently increased somewhat."

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