"170,000 Confirmed Cases Mark Maximum Quarantine Crisis" ... Parents Fear School Opening

One in Three Confirmed Cases Are Children and Adolescents
Schools Struggle Between Remote and In-Person Classes
Medical Staff Cluster Infections Raise Concerns of Healthcare Crisis

On the 22nd, officials are wiping down the droplet barrier screens in the cafeteria of Seongwon Elementary School in Mapo-gu, Seoul, ahead of the school reopening. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

As the Omicron variant virus pandemic reaches its peak, the number of new daily confirmed cases has surpassed 170,000. Along with the surge in confirmed cases, the number of critically ill patients hospitalized and deaths is also rapidly increasing. With the opening of elementary, middle, and high schools scheduled for early next month, one in three recent confirmed cases are children and adolescents, which is expected to further escalate the chaos.

170,000 Confirmed Cases... 99 Deaths

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters on the 23rd, as of midnight that day, the number of new COVID-19 confirmed cases increased by 171,452, bringing the cumulative total to 2,329,182. The number of new confirmed cases surged by 71,879 from the previous day’s 99,573, far surpassing the previous record of 109,822 on the 18th, and directly reaching the 170,000 range. Compared to a week ago on the 16th (90,439) and two weeks ago on the 9th (49,549), the number is 1.9 times and 3.5 times higher respectively, continuing the ‘doubling’ phenomenon of roughly doubling every week. Institutions studying domestic and international trends of confirmed cases had predicted that daily cases would exceed 170,000 by early next month, but the actual number reached this forecast faster than expected.

The number of critically ill patients also increased by 32 from 480 the previous day to 512. The number of critically ill patients, which had been maintained in the 200s since the beginning of this month, rose to the 300s on the 14th, then to the 400s on the 19th, and reached the 500s on this day. The number of deaths was 99, marking the fourth highest number historically after December 23 (109), 31 (108), and 25 (105) last year. The total number of deaths reached 7,607, with a cumulative fatality rate of about 0.33%.

School Chaos Ahead of Opening

A notable point is the sharp increase in confirmed cases among children and adolescents aged 19 and under. In the third week of February (13?19), 163,357 confirmed cases were reported among those aged 0?19, nearly doubling (95.7%) compared to the second week (6?12) with 83,456 cases. During the same period, confirmed cases across all age groups increased by 74.7%, from 322,271 to 562,912, indicating a relatively steeper rise in pediatric and adolescent cases. Specifically, the average daily confirmed cases per 100,000 people during this period were 282.8 for ages 0?9 and 269.8 for ages 10?19, significantly higher than those in their 30s (179.9), 40s (157.9), and 50s (100.3). Among the 99,573 new confirmed cases on the previous day (22nd), 29,351 (29.5%) were under 19 years old.

Health authorities and experts note that children and adolescents are vulnerable to infection due to low vaccination rates. Moreover, children 11 years old and younger are not eligible for vaccination, and the second-dose vaccination rate for those aged 12?19 was only 71.1% as of the 22nd. With schools reopening next week and students gathering, there is a high possibility that transmission within schools will spread sequentially to other age groups. Son Young-rae, head of the Social Strategy Division at the Central Accident Response Headquarters, said, "Infections among children and adolescents themselves are problematic, but the real concern is that transmission occurs within families through them, especially when elderly or unvaccinated family members become infected."

Confusion is intensifying in the education sector. Although the Ministry of Education only allowed full remote or shortened classes for two weeks after school reopening as of the previous day, it left the discretion regarding attendance criteria to individual schools, causing schools to struggle between normal attendance and remote classes. A representative from the Korea Federation of Teachers’ Associations said, "Even if schools follow the confirmed case and attendance suspension rate criteria set by the Ministry of Education’s academic operation plan, many schools are gathering parents’ opinions in preparation for possible large-scale outbreaks. If schools decide on remote classes independently, complaints due to differences with neighboring schools will inevitably increase, but the clear guideline given now is just ‘do as you see fit.’”

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety approved the Korean Pfizer vaccine ‘Comirnaty 0.1 mg/mL (for ages 5?11)’ on this day, but specific plans regarding vaccination targets and schedules have not yet been finalized.

Home Treatment Surpasses 500,000

Some large hospitals, including Gangdong Kyung Hee University Hospital in Seoul, have experienced unprecedented ward closures. Concerns are growing about a medical crisis where not only medical staff and beds for critically ill COVID-19 patients are insufficient, but also home-treated patients and general patients cannot receive timely medical care.

As of 5 p.m. the previous day, the occupancy rates for intensive care and semi-intensive care beds were 36.9% (990 out of 2,685 beds in use) and 58.0% (1,818 out of 3,134 beds in use), respectively, rising from 27.0% and 45.1% on the 15th. The number of patients under home treatment reached 521,294.

Experts emphasize the need to review the medical system and response capacity, considering that it takes about 1?2 weeks for an increase in confirmed cases to lead to an increase in critically ill patients, and that the number of home-treated patients requiring hospital care for other illnesses may also rise. Baek Soon-young, emeritus professor at the Catholic University College of Medicine, pointed out, "If there is an in-hospital cluster infection or an increase in infected medical staff, the number of available medical personnel inevitably decreases. Since face-to-face treatment for general patients under home care is limited, rapid responses such as transferring patients to intensive care units or administering treatments when symptoms suddenly worsen may not be possible."

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