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It seems that the situation of a new coronavirus infection (Corona 19) in Korea is going to get worse.
Amid various quarantine measures, such as the strengthening of “ social distancing ” and the implementation of “ special quarantine measures for the end of the year and New Year ”, the number of confirmed cases decreased somewhat after the holidays of Christmas (12.25-27), but there was no obvious setback or setback.
Due to the weekly trend of patient occurrence, there is a high possibility that the number of new confirmed cases will increase again as of the middle of this week.
The ‘mutant virus’, which is rapidly becoming a pandemic in the UK, was confirmed to have also entered the country as a result of being overwhelmed, triggering an emergency for quarantine authorities. This mutant virus is known to have 1.7 times more transmitting power than the virus currently prevalent in Korea, and if it spreads in the country, the government’s response to quarantine becomes difficult.
◇ Today, about 1,000 people again … “The risk is still high”
According to the Central Defense Countermeasures Headquarters (Bangdaebon) on the 29th, at 0 o’clock the day before, there were 808 new confirmed cases of corona19 in Korea.
During the Christmas holiday period, 1,241 people and 1,132 people were represented respectively on the 25-26 days of the Christmas season, ranking first and second after the 19th crown incident in Korea, but fell below 1,000. people on the 27th (970 people), followed by three digits for two consecutive days. Kept.
However, it is too early to conclude that the spread has narrowed.
Generally, on weekends and holidays, the number of confirmed cases tends to decrease as the number of tests decreases. However, the number of tests from the last 25 to 27 was only 30,000 to 36,000, which was significantly less than the average of 50,000 the day of the previous week.
In fact, the number of new confirmed cases that are announced at 0 o’clock that day is expected to hit 1,000 again.
The number of new confirmed cases counted by quarantine authorities and local governments such as Seoul at 9:30 pm the previous day is 931. This included 233 additional confirmed cases at the Ministry of Justice’s Eastern Detention Center.
Among these, the fact that the rate of infection by unknown route is high, that it is not known when and where it was infected, which is deepening the concerns of the quarantine authorities.
Of the 14,199 new confirmed cases in the last two weeks from 15 to 28 this month, 4.66 (28.6%) cases are investigating the route of infection. This means that almost 3 out of 10 people do not know the route of infection.
‘The percentage of management within the quarantine network’, which refers to the percentage of new confirmed cases confirmed in self-isolation, is also decreasing weekly since the end of November to 43.6% → 38.0% → 32.8% → 31.2%. This means that more and more confirmed cases are outside the quarantine management network of the authorities.
Quarantine authorities stipulate this as “still high risk of infection.”
In fact, the transmission power, which shows how many people infect around a confirmed person, in other words, the Infection Reproduction Index, has dropped to 1.11 in the last week (12.20 ~ 26), but still it has not dropped below 1. If the reproductive index of the infection is greater than 1, it is considered “continuous”, and if it is less than 1, it is considered a stage of “suppression of proliferation”.
In a briefing the day before, Jung Eun-kyung, head of Bangdae headquarters, said: “The number of new confirmed cases decreased slightly on the 27th and 28th, but the effects of the decrease in the number of tests during the Christmas holidays. ”
Jung said, “Looking at the increase in the number of patients on a weekly basis, the rate of increase was around 30% in recent weeks, but it dropped slightly to 7% last week,” he said. “But the risk of community infection remains high.”
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◇ Nervous about the emergence of a mutant UK virus … Is it a “variable” for quarantine?
In this situation, a mutant virus originating in the United Kingdom has even appeared, and the quarantine authorities are very tense.
According to Bang Dae-bon, the mutant virus was confirmed in three samples from four family members who lived in London, England, and entered Korea on the 22nd of this month.
As these families were positive upon entry, Bang Dae-bon is conducting research on contact persons such as passengers, as it is likely to be transmitted during the flight. At the time, 62 passengers and 12 crew members were on the same flight, but all crew members were negative.
In particular, four other members of Goyang-si’s family, Gyeonggi-do, who entered the country from the United Kingdom on the 8th and 13th of this month, in addition to this family, were also confirmed, and an examination is currently underway. detailed to detect infection with the mutant virus. One of them in his 80s was confirmed after death on the 26th, followed by three family members one after another.
If these families are found to be infected with the mutant virus, community concerns about infection are likely to increase. It is known that one of them, who first entered the country, was confirmed as confirmed after self-isolation was lifted and there was contact with the local community.
Experts believe that the mutant virus will become an “important variable” that will influence the future trend.
Eun-mi Chun, professor of respiratory medicine at Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital, said: “It was first discovered in the UK in September and the number of confirmed cases started to rise from November.” Indicated.
Quarantine authorities plan to prevent the influx of the mutant virus as much as possible in the domestic market, but there are voices mixed with concerns that it will not be easy to block the influx, given that the spread of the virus is strengthening in countries like the United Kingdom. .
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