Kwon Jun-wook "10 Million Hidden Infections... Must Consider When Preparing Beds and Treatments"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] According to a nationwide antibody positivity rate survey, it was found that there are about 10 million 'hidden infections'?people who contracted COVID-19 but were not detected by the testing system.

On the 23rd, Kwon Jun-wook, director of the National Institute of Health, announced the survey results, stating, "The undiagnosed infection rate was found to be 19.5%," and added, "In terms of population, that amounts to about 10 million people."

The survey showed that the N antibody positivity rate from natural infection was 57.65%, which is 19.5 percentage points higher than the cumulative confirmed case rate of 38.15% as of July 30. The health authorities consider this 19.5% as undiagnosed infections, i.e., hidden infections. Director Kwon explained, "This means that about half of the detected infected individuals could be hidden infections present in the community."

However, he added that this rate is lower compared to undiagnosed infection rates in other countries. Director Kwon said, "So far, not many countries have conducted antibody positivity surveys on representative samples in the community. However, the UK has done such a survey, and it is generally estimated that there are about twice as many hidden infections in the community as detected cases."

Regarding this, Director Kwon stated, "For Omicron, literature suggests an asymptomatic infection rate of 56%, meaning nearly half show no symptoms. When there are no symptoms, it is difficult to be identified as a confirmed case, so it is practically reasonable to assume about twice as many hidden infections as in the UK’s situation. In our case, it is about half that amount."

He continued, "Since Delta, Omicron, BA.4, BA.5, and recently the BF.7 variant emerging in the US, the asymptomatic infection rate has been gradually increasing with each variant."

Director Kwon emphasized that the scale of undiagnosed infections confirmed this time should be utilized in future quarantine policies. He said, "When COVID-19 with characteristics similar to Omicron begins to spread in the community, preparations for medical beds and treatments should consider an additional 19.5 percentage points beyond the detected scale."

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