Nearly 50,000 COVID-19 Cases... 'Non-face-to-face Medical Care' in Confusion

12,848 Increase in One Day, Total 49,567
Over 10,000 Cases and Quadrupled in Just Two Weeks

High-Risk Groups Monitored Starting Tomorrow
Concerns Over Mild and Asymptomatic Patients Fending for Themselves
Confirmed and Isolated Voters' On-Site Voting Extended by 3 Hours

Global Cumulative Cases Surpass 400 Million

On the morning of the 9th, when the number of new COVID-19 cases approached 50,000, Novavax COVID vaccines produced at SK Bioscience in Andong-si, Gyeongbuk, were being loaded onto transport vehicles for shipment. At the same time, citizens lined up to get tested at a temporary screening clinic set up in Seoul City Hall Plaza.

During the COVID-19 Omicron variant pandemic, the number of new confirmed cases surged to nearly 50,000 per day. The number of confirmed cases exceeded 10,000 for the first time on the 26th of last month and increased about fourfold in just two weeks. As the quarantine authorities focused on managing only high-risk groups aged 60 and over and applied a home treatment system centered on non-face-to-face medical care, both medical personnel and patients fell into confusion.

The Central Disease Control Headquarters announced that as of midnight on the 9th, the number of confirmed cases increased by 49,567, bringing the total cumulative confirmed cases to 1,131,248. The number of new confirmed cases on that day increased by 12,848 compared to the previous day (36,719 cases).

The number of new confirmed cases is showing a trend of doubling approximately every week. The new confirmed cases on that day were 2.4 times the 20,268 cases reported a week earlier on the 2nd, and about 3.8 times the 13,008 cases reported two weeks earlier on the 26th of last month. It is interpreted that the rapid increase in new confirmed cases is due to the Omicron variant, which has strong transmissibility, surpassing the dominant strain and already becoming the prevailing strain. In particular, the effects of increased movement and face-to-face contact during the recent Lunar New Year holiday are becoming fully apparent, and at the same time, the temporarily slowed number of confirmed cases over the previous weekend is rapidly increasing as the week progresses.

The number of critically ill patients is also showing signs of increase. As of midnight on that day, the number of critically ill patients was 285, an increase of 17 from the previous day (268). Although the number has remained in the 200s for 12 consecutive days, it dropped to 257 on the 4th and then rose to around 270, reaching the 280s on that day. The number of deaths due to COVID-19 increased by 21 in one day, totaling 6,943. The cumulative fatality rate is 0.61%.

To manage the rapidly increasing number of confirmed cases, the quarantine authorities have required that from the 3rd, only those who test positive on rapid antigen tests can receive polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, and from the 10th, health monitoring will be conducted only for high-risk patients aged 60 and over. Mild or asymptomatic patients are to manage their own health under the home treatment system. However, there is growing anxiety that under this quarantine system, which focuses on minimizing severe cases and deaths, mild or asymptomatic patients and unconfirmed cases are effectively left to "fend for themselves."

The government and quarantine authorities are promoting measures to allow COVID-19 confirmed patients and those in self-quarantine to vote. The Central Election Management Committee reported to the National Assembly's Political Reform Special Committee on that day that COVID-19 confirmed and quarantined individuals would be allowed to vote on-site after 6 p.m. on the day of the main election (March 9) and the early voting end date (March 5), respectively.

Meanwhile, the global cumulative number of confirmed cases has surpassed 400 million. According to the international statistics site Worldometer, as of 10:59 p.m. GMT on the 8th, the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases worldwide was counted at 401,780,58. This means that one hundred million additional infections occurred within a month after surpassing 300 million for the first time in early January. The cumulative number of deaths to date is 5,779,768. Since the Omicron variant was first reported on November 24 of last year, about 139.65 million new confirmed cases have occurred in just over two months, increasing the cumulative confirmed cases by 53.6%. During this period, the number of deaths reached 500,000.

Abdi Mahamud, Situation Manager of the WHO COVID-19 Emergency Response Team, said, "Although Omicron is said to cause less severe symptoms, the fact that 500,000 people have died is a tremendous tragedy."

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