A shop in Seoul is closed on July 29, 2022, with a notice on the window informing of a temporary shutdown due to COVID-19. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, July 29 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s new COVID-19 cases stayed below 90,000 for the second consecutive day Friday but were sharply up from a week ago, in an upward trend in the curve amid a resurgence in the virus.
The country added 85,320 new COVID-19 infections, including 439 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 19,620,517, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.
Friday’s tally is slightly down from the previous day’s 88,384 but about a 20 percent gain from a week earlier, representing a steep jump in the infection numbers that had hovered in the four-digit range for most of June.
Daily infection cases have bounced back as the country is battling with a new COVID-19 wave, triggered by the omicron subvariant BA.5. The pace of the transmission is quickening amid the summer holiday season and eased virus curbs.
The KDCA reported 35 deaths from COVID-19, raising the death toll to 24,992.
The number of critically ill patients came to 234, up by 38 from Thursday.
As of 9 p.m. Friday, the country had reported 78,743 additional cases, down 4,397 from the same time Thursday. Daily cases are counted until midnight and announced the following morning.
A makeshift COVID-19 testing station is being set up at a park in Daegu, 237 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on July 29, 2022, as South Korea experiences a spike in infection numbers. (Yonhap)
Despite the virus resurgence, health authorities said they are not considering a rollback of the antivirus restrictions, like tight social distancing and business hour curfews, and that the post-pandemic efforts toward regaining normalcy will continue.
KDCA Commissioner Peck Kyong-ran said the current virus wave could peak at around 200,000 infection cases a day, lower than the previous prediction, given the weaker-than-expected spread of the subvariant.
“If the virus wave develops within the predicted range, we should be able to respond with the prepared quarantine and medical capabilities without uniform social distancing measures like limiting the number and size of private gatherings,” Peck said.
President Yoon Suk-yeol called on health authorities to come up with measures to minimize people’s inconvenience, such as providing more test centers and support for the high virus testing costs, as well as securing enough updated vaccines, treatments and hospital beds.
“This administration’s goal in the fight against the virus is to minimize serious cases and deaths while maintaining the policy of a return to normal,” Yoon said at a government virus response meeting.
The government will complete the contract for COVID-19 oral treatment for 942,000 people by the first week of next month for delivery in the second half of August and expand the number of pharmacies supplying the drugs, officials said.
Currently, South Korea has COVID-19 treatment pills for 755,000 people.
Injections of the COVID-19 antibody treatment Evusheld, largely administered to those with weak immune systems, will be allowed starting Aug. 8.
(Yonhap)
