photo = news 1
The fourth wave of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) continues. With nearly 4,000 new confirmed cases, the number of severe cases and deaths all recorded the highest ever. The government plans to announce a comprehensive plan on the 29th. It seems that social distancing, which is a concern for people’s livelihoods, will be excluded for now.
Nearly 4000 new confirmed cases
According to the Central Quarantine Countermeasures Headquarters on the 29th, as of 00:00 on the same day, the number of new confirmed cases increased by 3928. It is 140 fewer than the previous day (4068), but it is the highest number of confirmed cases as of Sunday. The cumulative number of confirmed cases is 448,896. The number of new confirmed cases in Korea has been maintained at 3,900 to 4,000 for five consecutive days after exceeding 4,000 for the first time on the 24th (4,115).
The death toll from COVID-19 is 56. The number of deaths in the 50s was four more than the day before (52), when the first death toll since the Corona 19 epidemic was recorded. The cumulative number of deaths is 3548, and the cumulative fatality rate in Korea is 0.80%. The number of patients with severe cases of gastritis was 647, an increase of 13 from the previous day. The number of severe cases of severe cases has been recorded at 600 for five days in a row.
The route of infection of the new confirmed cases was 3893 locally, with 77.8% overwhelmingly in the metropolitan area, including 1,668 in Seoul, 1,083 in Gyeonggi, and 276 in Incheon. Non-metropolitan areas: Busan 147, Chungnam 120, Daegu 106, Gyeongbuk 103, Gyeongnam 88, Gangwon 61, Daejeon 53, Gwangju 52, Jeonbuk 44, Jeju 35, Jeonnam 25, Chungbuk 23 , a total of 866 (22.2%), including 5 in Sejong and 4 in Ulsan. The number of imported cases is 35, 12 more than the previous day (23).
The vaccination completion rate was close to 80%. According to the Corona 19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team, the completion rate of the domestic COVID-19 vaccine was 79.7% (cumulative 40,909,24 people) as of 00:00 on the same day. 91.3% of the population over the age of 18. The primary vaccination rate is 82.8% of the total population (cumulative 42,51,125) and 93.4% of the population over the age of 18. The booster vaccination was completed in 2,842,146 people.
photo = Yonhap News
Comprehensive measures for COVID-19 announced on the 29th
The government plans to release comprehensive measures on the 29th to respond to the spread of COVID-19.
The government is reviewing measures such as applying a new youth quarantine pass (inoculation completion/voice confirmation) and setting the quarantine pass valid for 6 months to strengthen quarantine. He also mentioned a plan to have non-vaccinated people pay their own medical expenses if they become infected with COVID-19.
However, the effective ’emergency stop’ method is not expected to be used in the face of the spread of COVID-19. This is because it can cause further damage to the self-employed and small business owners who are barely breathing. The main script also said, “There has never been an official review of restrictions on the size of private gatherings.”
A new mutant virus ‘Omicron’ is also a problem. This mutant virus, discovered in South Africa, has already spread to Europe and other countries. To prevent the inflow of Omicron, the government will deny entry to all foreigners entering Korea from eight countries, including South Africa, from today. In addition, Korean inbound travelers are required to be quarantined at the facility for 10 days regardless of vaccination.
Reporter Song-ryeol Lee of Hankyung.com yisr0203@hankyung.com
