Government: "Domestic Delta Variant Infection Rate Expected to Exceed 50% Next Week... Reversing Trend in Seoul Metropolitan Area Is Crucial" (Update)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] As the spread of COVID-19 continues domestically, the 'Delta' variant, which has a higher transmissibility than the existing virus, is expected to become the dominant strain within a few weeks.

Son Young-rae, head of the Social Strategy Division at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, said at a briefing on the 26th, "Last week, the detection rate of the Delta variant rapidly increased to 48% of all infections," adding, "It is objectively quite possible to predict that the detection rate will exceed 50% in this week's situation report to be announced next week."

According to the quarantine authorities, the detection rate of the Delta variant was only 3.3% in the fourth week of June (June 20?26), but surged to 48% in the third week of July (July 18?24).

If this trend continues, the Delta variant is expected to become the dominant strain accounting for more than half of all infections domestically. Recently, the Delta variant has been spreading rapidly not only in the metropolitan area but also in non-metropolitan regions.

The government emphasized that starting tomorrow, the 'social distancing' level in non-metropolitan areas will be uniformly raised to level 3, and it is important to stop the spread through this measure.

Son said, "In the metropolitan area, the situation has plateaued but a clear reversal is not confirmed yet; the goal for this Sunday is to enter a phase of decline," and added, "The metropolitan area, which is the epicenter of the outbreak, is at a crossroads between entering a declining phase or maintaining a plateau."

He continued, "Overall, the virus is spreading rapidly in non-metropolitan areas as well, so the uniform level 3 social distancing measures must be implemented to halt the spread."

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