COVID-19 Risk Level 'High' in Both Capital Area and Non-Capital Areas... Rapid Increase in Non-Capital Areas

Omicron Spread Accelerates, Sharp Increase Expected After Holidays
Severe Cases and Deaths Decrease... "Severity and Fatality Rates Lower Than Delta"

Due to the spread of the COVID-19 Omicron variant, the number of new confirmed cases exceeded 10,000 for the first time on the 26th, and citizens are visiting a temporary screening clinic set up at Seoul Station Plaza. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heeyoon] Amid the spread of Omicron, with daily new confirmed cases consistently in the 10,000 range, health authorities last week assessed the COVID-19 risk level nationwide, in the Seoul metropolitan area, and in non-metropolitan areas as all being at the 'High' level.

On the 31st, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency's Central Disease Control Headquarters (CDCH) announced that it evaluated the nationwide COVID-19 risk level for the fourth week of January (January 23?29) as such.

The nationwide COVID-19 risk level had maintained a 'Moderate' level for two consecutive weeks from the first week of January (January 2?8), then was raised to 'High' in the third week of January (January 16?23), and remained at the 'High' level last week.

The CDCH explained that as the spread of Omicron intensified, the number of cases increased explosively, especially showing a sharp rise in non-metropolitan areas.

The domestic Omicron detection rate surpassed 80% within five weeks, becoming the dominant strain. However, the severe case rate and fatality rate were confirmed to be significantly lower than Delta, at 0.42% and 0.15%, respectively.

Over the past month, the domestic detection rate rose from 12.5% in the first week of January to 26.7% in the second week, 50.3% in the third week, and 80% in the fourth week. Notably, between the third and fourth weeks of January, the rate increased by 29.7 percentage points within just one week.

Accordingly, the weekly daily average number of confirmed cases is showing a steep upward trend.

Until the second week of January, the domestic weekly daily average confirmed cases were in the mid-3,000s, then increased to 5,159 in the third week, and last week exceeded 10,000, totaling 11,877 cases.

The weekly daily average incidence rate last week was 22.9 cases per 100,000 population, more than five times higher compared to 4.1 cases in the first week of November.

Weekly COVID-19 Risk Assessment Results. Photo by Central Disease Control Headquarters

As the number of confirmed cases rises, the weekly number of hospitalized patients is also increasing. The weekly hospitalized patient count, which was 3,022 in the second week of January, more than doubled to 6,199 within two weeks.

Despite the increase in confirmed cases, the number of severe patients and deaths is actually decreasing.

The weekly new severe patient count has steadily declined from 440 in the first week of January to 309, 225, and 167 in the fourth week.

During the same period, the weekly death toll has also continued to decrease, from 361 to 295, 248, and 183.

The Quarantine and Medical Subcommittee of the Daily Recovery Support Committee stated regarding the COVID-19 weekly risk level for the fourth week of January, "Due to the dominance of the Omicron variant, the increase in confirmed cases has raised hospitalization rates, but severe cases and deaths have not increased, so response capacity is being maintained."

They also suggested, "Considering Omicron's low severity rate, a transition and evaluation of the medical response system is necessary," and "It is necessary to shift the testing system to focus on high-risk infection groups and to concurrently manage COVID-19 diagnosis and treatment within the general medical system."

Lee Sangwon, head of the Epidemiological Investigation and Analysis Division at the CDCH, explained, "It is now clear that the Omicron variant has significantly higher transmissibility and a lower severe case rate," adding, "As the pathogen's characteristics change, response policies are also evolving and being implemented one by one."

He further added, "The severe case rate and fatality rate of the Omicron variant are 0.42% and 0.15%, respectively, which are distinctly lower compared to the Delta variant."

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