◀ anchor ▶
In Korea, Omicron has now established itself as the dominant species.
50.3%, or more than half of the new cases, were Omicron cases.
As the spread was so strong, a group infection occurred even to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, which is in charge of quarantine.
The government urged people to refrain from visiting their hometowns and complete the third dose before the holidays, saying that the Lunar New Year holiday would be a turning point for the spread.
First of all, this is reporter Lee Jun-beom.
◀ Report ▶
The Ministry of Health and Welfare, which oversees the quarantine policy, did not escape the strong spread.
Three days ago, a group infection began after a public official was infected, and so far, 24 confirmed cases have been reported in the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
[손영래/보건복지부 대변인]
“Since there are no major disruptions to our heavy-duty work, we are activating telecommuting and limiting the spread as much as possible.”
7,513 new confirmed cases today.
As of Sunday’s inspection, it was the highest number ever, and recorded 7,000 for three days in a row.
A key cause of diffusion is micron variation.
The national average detection rate exceeded 50%, overtaking Delta and becoming the dominant species.
Among them, Honam recorded 82.3%, Gyeongbuk 69.6%, and Gangwon 59.1%. In particular, Daegu’s Omicron infection rate was 79.7%, which spreads rapidly.
[권영진/대구시장]
“The number of confirmed cases, which had averaged around 100 per day (for about a month in December), is finally approaching 500 today, the highest since early March 2020…”
As a result of the government’s analysis of 9,860 domestic Omicron infections, the fatality rate was 0.16%, which was confirmed to be only about one fifth of the delta mutation.
The transmission power was more than twice that of the delta mutation, but the severity was low and the level was slightly higher than that of influenza.
However, as the rate of spread is fast, if the number of high-risk confirmed cases increases, the number of severe cases and deaths is expected to increase.
[정은경/질병관리청장]
“Individual severity is low, but the scale of social damage is expected to increase.”
The government said that this Lunar New Year holiday will inevitably become a major turning point in the prevention of Omicron, and urged them to postpone their visit to their hometown and refrain from traveling as much as possible.
[김부겸/국무총리]
“If many people actively move between regions and meet each other, it will be like pouring oil into a blazing fire.”
The government raised the Corona risk assessment, which had been maintained at ‘medium’ for the past two weeks, to ‘high’.
This is Lee Jun-beom from MBC News.
Video coverage: Jung Woo-young / Video editing: Park Hye-rin
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