South Korea has begun imposing a brand new coronavirus testing coverage centered on fast testing as well being officers reported a document variety of new infections following the Lunar New 12 months vacation
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea on Thursday started imposing a brand new coronavirus testing coverage centered on fast testing as well being officers reported a document variety of new infections following the Lunar New 12 months vacation.
The 22,907 new instances reported by the Korea Illness Management and Prevention Company marked a second straight day of over 20,000 new infections and a few five-fold improve from each day instances seen in mid-January, when the extremely contagious omicron variant first grew to become the nation’s dominant pressure.
Lengthy strains snaked round testing stations within the capital Seoul and different main cities, the place most individuals have been supplied fast antigen check kits to make use of below the supervision of well being employees, who then permitted lab assessments for anybody who examined optimistic.
Because the begin of the pandemic, South Korea’s testing regime had centered on PCR lab assessments, that are thought of most correct however require a lot of well being employees to manage nasal and throat swabs, and high-tech machines to investigate samples.
The brand new testing regime that began Thursday expands using fast testing and is aimed toward saving PCR lab assessments for high-risk teams, together with folks of their 60s and older or these with pre-existing medical circumstances.
Some specialists have opposed the brand new coverage, saying that fast assessments aren’t delicate sufficient to reliably detect omicron infections and elevating considerations that transmissions might worsen if individuals who return false damaging assessments proceed to enterprise out in public.
However well being officers say the nation should focus lab assessments and different essential medical sources because of the pace of infections pushed by omicron. Officers are additionally increasing at-home therapies and have eased quarantine durations for virus carriers and individuals who are available in shut contact with them, citing considerations about main disruptions at workplaces and important companies if massive numbers of individuals are continually positioned below quarantine.
Whereas omicron is spreading a lot sooner than earlier variations of the virus, the charges of hospitalization and dying have up to now been decrease than instances linked to delta, senior KDCA official Lim Sook-young mentioned throughout a briefing. Virus sufferers of their 60s or older accounted for round 8% of current infections, she mentioned, probably reflecting safety supplied by booster photographs.
Greater than 85% of South Korea’s 51 million folks have been absolutely vaccinated and greater than 53% have obtained booster photographs.
