Criticism of "K-Quarantine Failure"... Even the Prime Minister Steps In to Refute, Saying "Fatality Rate Is Low"

Omicron Wave Peaks at 620,000 Cases Last Week... Gradual Decline Observed
"Cumulative Deaths and Fatality Rate per 100,000 Lower Than Overseas"

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum is speaking at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters meeting for COVID-19 response held at the Government Complex Sejong in Sejong City on the morning of the 25th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] As the scale of the Omicron variant outbreak is larger than expected and the peak period is getting longer, the government has analyzed that the number of confirmed cases is decreasing. The Prime Minister actively refuted the so-called "K-quarantine failure theory" raised by some.

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (CDSCH) meeting on the 25th, "Please judge objectively and comprehensively based on the infection rate and mortality rate per population, cumulative fatality rate, and various economic indicators," adding, "In the fight against COVID-19 that has continued for more than two years, compared to major countries in the world with similar populations, we have minimized the precious sacrifices of our people to less than one-tenth."

The basis for Prime Minister Kim's statement is the cumulative COVID-19 fatality rate by country compiled by the World Health Organization (WHO). According to this data, as of the 21st, the cumulative fatality rate in the United States was 1.22%, Italy was 1.14%, while South Korea was only 0.13%, about one-tenth of those countries. It is also significantly lower than the United Kingdom (0.8%), Germany (0.65%), and France (0.58%). However, this is a cumulative statistic over more than two years since COVID-19 first appeared in 2020, so it does not reflect the recent situation of the Omicron outbreak.

Lee Ki-il, the first controller of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (CDSCH), emphasized South Korea's low cumulative death rate per population by citing the international statistics site "Our World in Data." Looking at the cumulative confirmed cases per 1 million people, South Korea has 185,574 cases, whereas Israel has 427,520, the United States 237,308, and France 356,000, which are much higher levels. The cumulative deaths per 100,000 people are 289.6 in the United States, 261.1 in Italy, 239.8 in the United Kingdom, 210.6 in France, and 151.3 in Germany, but South Korea has only 24.7.

The controller said, "Even though there are objective figures, I think the reason some talk about K-quarantine failure is because they want to judge it that way."

He also emphasized, "The occurrence of (domestic COVID-19) confirmed cases is showing a pattern of gradually decreasing after passing the peak of the outbreak." As of midnight on the 25th, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases increased by 339,514 compared to the previous day. This is 56,084 fewer than the 395,598 cases the day before and 67,382 fewer than the 406,896 cases a week ago on the 18th. During the week when daily new confirmed cases hit a record high, from Wednesday to Friday (16th to 18th), the number of cases was 400,627 → 621,205 → 406,896, but for the same days this week (23rd to 25th), the numbers were 381,421 → 334,665 → 209,145, showing a somewhat reduced scale of the outbreak.

On the 17th, medical staff are caring for COVID-19 patients at Seoul Metropolitan Seobuk Hospital in Eunpyeong-gu, Seoul. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency's Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, as of midnight on that day, the number of new COVID-19 cases reached 621,328, entering the 600,000 range for the first time. The number of critically ill patients was 1,159, down 85 from the previous day (1,244). The number of deaths was 429, marking the first time it reached the 400 range. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

The controller explained, "The 7-day average number of confirmed cases decreased by about 12% from 405,000 on the 19th to 358,000 as of today," adding, "Although it is not clear, we believe the daily new confirmed cases of about 620,000 was almost the peak. We need to observe the situation further to evaluate how fast the outbreak will decline, but it can be seen that it has shifted to a downward trend."

However, COVID-19 deaths continue at 300 to 400 per day. On this day, 393 COVID-19 deaths were recorded. The day before, a record high of 469 deaths was reported, and in the past week, the daily average COVID-19 deaths exceeded 340.

As the daily number of confirmed cases itself increased to the level of hundreds of thousands and deaths surged, some pointed out that this was the result of "government quarantine failure." They argue that because the government repeatedly eased quarantine measures and continuously conveyed the message that COVID-19 is at the level of seasonal flu before the Omicron spread reached its peak, the peak scale grew, resulting in more deaths.

Although the outbreak spread will subside, smaller-scale outbreaks may repeat and continue for several months or more. Professor Jung Jae-hoon of the Department of Preventive Medicine at Gachon University College of Medicine predicted, "The number of confirmed cases will decrease, but that means the speed of decrease, and it is unlikely that the scale of infection will drop extremely rapidly." He added, "(The outbreak) will gradually decrease over several months, repeatedly rising and falling over a long period."

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