[앵커]
The epidemic peaked in South Africa, where Omicron, a new mutant of COVID-19, first spread, and then entered a downtrend, giving hope to the world in the new year.
The United States, where Omicron is spreading, will peak this month, but most of the symptoms are mild and edible medicines will be supplied, so there is an expectation that daily recovery will be faster.
This is reporter Lee Kwang-yeop.
[기자]
The South African government has declared that the omicron mutation epidemic has passed its peak and has entered a declining phase.
Recently, the night curfew was lifted as the number of new daily cases plummeted by 30%.
Omicron reached its peak four weeks after its occurrence in November of last year, and then rapidly turned to a downward trend in two weeks.
[몬들리 궁구벨레 / 남아공 내각장관 : (오미크론 유행) 정점의 아래에 있어서 의료시설의 부담 증가로 이어지지 않았습니다.]
In the UK, where Omicron is the dominant species, the risk of hospitalization if infected with this mutation is only one-third that of the delta mutation.
The British government emphasized that, unlike the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak, most people have now returned to their daily lives.
[보리스 존슨 / 영국 총리 : 오미크론으로 병원 환자 수가 증가하고 있는 시점인데 우리의 12월 31일 오늘 위치가 지난해와는 비교할 수 없을 정도로 낫다는 점 한가지는 분명히 말할 수 있습니다.]
The US, where Omicron is spreading at a frightening pace, is likely to peak this month, but there are also observations that the epidemic may not be long.
The White House chief medical adviser, Director Anthony Fauci, told the Washington Post that he hopes the omicron infection will quickly peak and then drop to very low levels.
CNN predicted that the symptoms of Omicron have become relatively mild due to the increase in natural immunity and vaccination, and the epidemic can be quickly stopped by supplying an oral drug treatment.
However, caution is also raised that South Africa has a large young population and a hot season, so it is not a universally applicable situation around the world.
In particular, in that the rate of spread of Omicron is so fast that it is difficult to predict the future, how we overcome this January’s hurdle seems to be the measure of our new year’s Corona response.
This is YTN Lee Kwang-yeop.
YTN Lee Kwang-yeop (kyuplee@ytn.co.kr)
[저작권자(c) YTN & YTN plus 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]
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