Omicron Cases Expected to Reach Around 7,000 on or Around the 21st

Non-Capital Region COVID-19 Cases Increase by 31% in One Week
Omicron Cases to Receive Home Treatment Starting from the 19th

The government will implement social distancing measures for three weeks from the 17th of this month to the 6th of next month, easing the private gathering limit from the current 4 people to 6 people. However, the operating hours for restaurants and cafes will remain restricted until 9 PM. Although the spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant continues, the private gathering limit has been relaxed considering the opposition from self-employed business owners. The photo shows a notice about the capacity limit posted at a restaurant in downtown Seoul on the 14th, when the government announced these social distancing adjustments.
Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] As confirmed cases of the new COVID-19 variant Omicron spread nationwide, health authorities have issued a 'pre-warning.' This week, a particularly strong surge has reappeared, centered mainly in non-metropolitan areas.

According to health authorities on the 19th, the number of confirmed cases reached 5,805 in a single day, surpassing 5,000 for the first time in 20 days. This marks a sharp increase of 1,734 cases in just one day, indicating signs that the number of confirmed cases, which had been in the 3,000 to 4,000 range, is shifting to a rapid upward trend.

Over the past week (January 13?19), the daily average of domestic confirmed cases was 4,771.1, a 21.5% (722.5 cases) increase compared to the previous week (3,354.6 cases). Among these, cases in the metropolitan area rose from 2,313.0 to 2,712.4, an increase of 339.4 cases (17.3%), while non-metropolitan areas saw a larger increase from 141.6 to 1,364.7, up by 323.1 cases (31.0%).

Son Young-rae, head of the Social Strategy Division at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, stated that "During the three-week social distancing period including the Lunar New Year holiday, the Omicron variant is expected to replace the Delta variant by 80?90%," adding, "An increase in confirmed cases due to this is inevitable."

Jung Tong-ryong, chief coordinator of the Central Disease Control Headquarters, said, "We expect the Omicron variant to become the dominant strain around January 21," and "At around the same time, the number of confirmed cases is expected to reach 7,000, which is the threshold for shifting (quarantine) strategies."

In fact, comparing the time taken to surpass 5,000 confirmed cases since the start of the Delta and Omicron variant outbreaks, it took 100 days for Delta, but less than half that time?44 days?for Omicron. However, thanks to the effect of the third vaccine dose, the proportion of elderly people aged 60 and above, who are at higher risk of severe illness, remains low among confirmed cases.

Among the 5,431 confirmed cases reported yesterday, 8.8% (470 people) were aged 60 or older. In contrast, adolescents aged 18 and under accounted for 26.9% (1,459 people), maintaining a high level in the late 20% range, prompting authorities to repeatedly emphasize the necessity of COVID-19 vaccination for adolescents.

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