Assemblyman Kang Ki-yoon: "No Room for Three Mistakes... Urgent Quarantine Measures Needed for South America-Origin Lambda Variant Virus"

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Saeyan] Kang Ki-yoon, a member of the People Power Party (Changwon Seongsan, Health and Welfare Committee secretary), emphasized on the 19th that preemptive measures must be prepared regarding the Lambda variant, which is currently spreading in South America.

Among South American countries, Peru has recently seen about 90% of new confirmed cases infected with the Lambda variant.

In Argentina and Chile, one out of every three new confirmed cases has been identified as infected with the Lambda variant.

According to the Ministry of Justice, from the beginning of this year when the variant virus began to spread until July, a total of 3,766 people entered the country. Among them, 98 were from Peru, 120 from Chile, and 150 from Argentina.

However, according to Kang’s confirmation with the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, South American countries where the Lambda variant is spreading are not managed separately but are classified and managed as other countries.

Regarding this, Kang pointed out, "When the Wuhan virus first emerged, the government failed in preemptive quarantine as the first step, and later also failed to respond preemptively to variant viruses including the Delta variant, resulting in an increase in domestic variant virus confirmed cases."

He added, "The Lambda variant can neutralize COVID antibodies and reduce vaccine effectiveness," emphasizing, "To prevent a third mistake, it is urgent to strengthen preemptive management of arrivals from South America."

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