A man gets tested for COVID-19 at a testing center in Seoul on July 31, 2023. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, July 31 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s new coronavirus cases increased for the fifth consecutive week last week, health authorities said Monday, amid rising concerns over a possible new wave after all antivirus curbs were lifted earlier this year.
The country reported a daily average of 45,529 new infections for the week of July 25-31, bringing the total caseload to 33,201,796, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.
Out of the seven days, daily infections jumped to over 50,000 from Tuesday to Thursday, surpassing the threshold for the first time in about six months.
The country reported an average of 13 COVID-19 deaths per day for the one-week period, raising the death toll to 35,313. On Thursday, 23 deaths were reported.
Experts said the recent resurgence of the virus seems to be tied to the gradual wearing off of the COVID-19 vaccination immunity and the appearance of variants that are immune evasive.
“XBB 1.5, which is the dominant COVID-19 strain at the moment, has a higher ability to evade immunity,” said Kim Woo-joo, a professor and infectious disease expert at Korea University in Seoul.
The KDCA said the upward trend of infections is expected to continue for a while, but the country has enough medical capacity to respond to the spread of the virus.
Meanwhile, the health authority is planning to lower the infectious disease level of COVID-19 to the lowest level of Class 4 from the current Class 2, the second-highest level, as early as next month and implement a full transition to a normal state of the medical system.
With the adjustment, the remaining mask mandate at general hospitals and other high-risk facilities will be lifted, and the government will stop monitoring all COVID-19 patients.
(Yonhap)
