60,8177 COVID-19 Reinfections ... 83 Cases of Third Infection (Update)

67,546 Reinfections After Omicron Surge
"Herd Immunity Theoretically Difficult with Antibody Positivity Rate Alone"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] It has been revealed that nearly 70,000 cases of COVID-19 reinfection have occurred after patients recovered from an initial infection. There have also been more than 80 estimated cases of triple infection.

On the 16th, the Central Disease Control Headquarters analyzed 17,970,718 confirmed COVID-19 cases from January 2020 to the 5th of this month and confirmed a total of 68,177 (0.379%) estimated reinfection cases. Among these, 68,094 were infected twice, and 83 were infected three times.

The COVID-19 reinfection rate has steadily increased from 0.284% (26,239 cases) on March 19, to 0.347% (55,906 cases) on April 17, and 0.366% (64,451 cases) on May 15.

Additionally, among those infected twice, the estimated reinfection rate before the Omicron variant spread (until December 2021) was 0.1% (548 cases), whereas after the Omicron spread (from January 2022), the rate increased to 0.39% (67,546 cases).

Number of Confirmed Cases per Week and Estimated Reinfection Rate

The Central Disease Control Headquarters stated, "Although the number of estimated reinfection cases tends to decrease with the recent decline in confirmed cases, the possibility of reinfection remains." They added, "As activities increase during summer vacations and other times, exposure to infection sources may also increase, so even after recovery from a confirmed case, please continue to adhere to basic quarantine guidelines."

Meanwhile, health authorities reported that 95% of the Korean population has COVID-19 antibodies due to vaccination and natural infection, but they maintain that achieving theoretical 'herd immunity' is difficult even with a very high antibody positivity rate nationwide.

Kim Byung-guk, head of the Vaccine Effectiveness Evaluation Team at the Central Disease Control Headquarters, explained, "Viruses like COVID-19 that continuously mutate cannot be effectively blocked from spreading, and antibodies tend to gradually diminish over time, leading to reinfections. In such circumstances, even if the antibody positivity rate exceeds 90%, it is difficult to claim that herd immunity has been established."

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