“Omicron, peak about two months after Lunar New Year … must declare a state of emergency”

It is predicted that the Omicron Corona 19 mutant virus will start to spread in earnest before the Lunar New Year holiday and will become popular for the next one or two months. It was emphasized once again that the third vaccination is essential because antibody therapy does not work well for patients with Omicron infection.

This is what the Central Clinical Committee for Novel Infectious Diseases, a government advisory body that has been treating and researching since the early days of COVID-19, held a press conference at the National Medical Center in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 12th. Oh Myeong-don (Professor of Infectious Diseases, Seoul National University Hospital), chairman of the Central Clinical Trial Committee, said, “Once the Omicron epidemic begins, the number of patients will double every two or three days.” He said, “We must declare a medical emergency.”

“Let’s face-to-face treatment with a mask and face shield”

Among domestic COVID-19 mutations, the detection rate of Omicron rose from 0.3% in the first week of last month to 12.5% ​​in the first week of the month, more than four times steeply in one month. The clinical committee warned that if this trend continues, the Omicron epidemic will start before the Lunar New Year, and the level will be unaffordable with the current wards, supplies, and manpower.

The response should be a declaration of a medical emergency. Specifically, △treatment in a general ward, not in an isolation ward, △delaying non-emergency medical care △expansion of medical personnel △introduction of rapid antigen testing. He also proposed shortening the quarantine period to five days if medical staff become infected. for the normal operation of the hospital. However, if the number of patients continues to increase, it is necessary to declare a crisis situation and find a way to see patients even in non-treatment spaces such as school classrooms.

On the 29th of last month, at Hyemin Hospital in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, medical staff inside and outside the negative pressure room communicate with each other through a glass wall.

Chairman Oh emphasized, “Because of Omicron, the damage that non-corona patients cannot receive proper treatment can be much more serious. It is now excessive for medical staff to be heavily armed in protective clothing and to hospitalize all patients in negative pressure rooms. Ki-hyeon Ki-hyeon, the head of the National Medical Center, also added, “We need to provide face-to-face treatment with only a high-performance mask and face shield, and we need to share enough information so that community medical institutions can see corona patients.”

Omicron antibody increase 4 weeks after the 3rd inoculation

The clinical committee believes that 95% of Omicron’s patients will have mild symptoms that do not require hospitalization. The risk of developing pneumonia is also lower than with the delta variant. However, as the number of patients increases, the number of critically ill and fatalities is bound to increase. The clinical committee expected such an emergency to last up to two months. How you spend these two months is the key.

Jeon Jae-hyeon, director of the Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Center at the National Medical Center, explains a chest CT (computed tomography) image of a Corona 19 patient at a press conference of the Central Clinical Committee for Novel Infectious Diseases held at the Central Medical Center in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 12th. yunhap news

In addition, the Central Medical Center Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Center analyzed 30 patients with the 3rd dose and revealed that the concentration of the neutralizing antibody (immune protein that neutralizes the virus) against Omicron significantly decreased 6 months after the 2nd dose. Jeon Jae-hyeon, head of the research center, explained, “four weeks after the third inoculation, the Omicron antibody increased significantly compared to before.”

In the end, it means that a third vaccination is necessary. Chairman Oh said, “In particular, the elderly over the age of 60 and those with underlying diseases should complete the third vaccination as soon as possible. Otherwise, it could become dangerous because it could be infected with Omicron, which will come like a tsunami.”

88% of confirmed cases imported from overseas are Omicron…CES attendees

As of 00:00 on the same day, there were 318 new cases of COVID-19 imported from abroad. This is the highest number since the count. Considering that 88% of recently imported confirmed cases are Omicron infections, the domestic Omicron epidemic is only a matter of time.

Among these, about 70 people who entered Korea after attending the ‘CES 2022’ held in Las Vegas on the 5th and 9th were confirmed with Corona 19. In the US, Omicron is already the dominant variant. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said, “We are comprehensively reviewing countermeasures in response to the increase in the number of confirmed cases entering overseas and the possibility of the influx of Omicron.”

Im So-hyung reporter precare@hankookilbo.com