'Again COVID'... 1 in 3 Reinfections Are Children and Adolescents

Half of the 3rd Wave Infection Cases

On the 22nd, as the spread of COVID-19 continued, citizens were getting tested at a temporary screening clinic in front of the Express Bus Terminal in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] Among the three reinfected individuals who were infected with COVID-19 once and then tested positive again, one in three is a child or adolescent aged 17 or younger.

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on the 22nd, from January 2020, when the first confirmed case was reported in Korea, until the 9th of this month, 25,569 children and adolescents aged 17 or younger were reinfected with COVID-19, accounting for 33.2% of the total 70,792 reinfected cases.

The number of reinfections decreased with increasing age. The 18-29 age group had 14,818 cases (19.2%), the second highest after children and adolescents, followed by 40-49 years (9,349 cases, 12.1%), 50-59 years (6,381 cases, 8.3%), 60-74 years (7,130 cases, 9.2%), and 75 years and older (3,080 cases, 4.0%).

Among those infected for the third time, those aged 17 or younger were also the largest group. Out of 108 total cases, 51 were aged 17 or younger, accounting for 47.2%. This means that one in two individuals infected for the third time is a child or adolescent. Other age groups included 23 cases aged 18-29, 10 cases aged 30-39, 5 cases aged 40-49, 4 cases aged 50-59, 9 cases aged 60-74, and 6 cases aged 75 and older.

The high rate of reinfection among younger age groups is attributed to the sharp increase in confirmed cases in this age group during each resurgence. In the second week of July, the average daily incidence rate was highest among teenagers at 113.6 cases, which was about 2.4 times higher than the previous week.

The proportion of confirmed cases aged 18 or younger among all new confirmed cases reached 32% on the 18th. Analyzing the age-specific confirmed case data released by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, this is the first time since March 22, when the COVID-19 Omicron wave peaked, that the proportion of child and adolescent confirmed cases exceeded 30%.

In particular, among children aged 0-9, confirmed cases surged significantly during the Omicron wave in February and March, with confirmed cases exceeding 50,000 per 100,000 population. This means that more than half of this age group has already been infected with COVID-19 at least once.

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