It's too early to talk about return to normal
It is still premature to talk about a return to normal life as Korea is waging an uphill battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of daily new infections stayed above 170,000 for the second straight day Thursday due to the fast spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant. The figure showed an explosive increase from 49,549 on Feb. 9 to 90,439 on Feb. 16, almost doubling every week.
What's more worrying is that the worst has yet to come. Health authorities predict the surge in coronavirus infections to peak early next month with daily cases rising to 270,000. On Thursday, 82 people died of the pandemic, raising the death toll to 7,689 with the fatality rate standing at 0.31 percent. The daily number of critically ill patients jumped nearly threefold to 581, compared to around 200 cases early last week.
Despite the deteriorating situation, the government has floated the idea of speeding up its drive toward a "return to normalcy" scheme. The Ministry of Health and Welfare said Tuesday that the country may be entering the final stages of the pandemic. A senior ministry official implied that the pandemic could soon turn into an endemic just like influenza. It would be welcome news if COVID-19 can be treated like the seasonal flu.
But we have to question whether it is the right time to be so optimistic about the future course of the coronavirus. The number of patients receiving at-home treatment has already exceeded 500,000, raising concerns about the country's overstretched healthcare system. Recently, two infant boys, four months old and seven months old, died because of the coronavirus while undergoing at-home treatment. More patients could die without proper medical attention amid the fast spread of the virus.
President Moon Jae-in mentioned a possible shift to normal life. Jeong Eun-kyeong, commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, hinted at easing social distancing rules if Omicron hits its peak. Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum also said that the government plans to revise social distancing and other measures once serious cases and deaths can be controlled stably, adding that there is no reason to have fears about the pandemic. However, they cannot avoid criticism for sending the wrong signal to the public about the raging pandemic.
Some critics argue that the government is trying to create a favorable condition for the ruling party's presidential candidate by putting forward optimistic views about the fight against COVID-19. They urge the authorities to learn a lesson from a mistake they committed when they prematurely introduced a "Living with COVID-19" strategy in November.
The government's optimism is based on Omicron's low fatality rate and severity compared to the Delta strain. But reckless and wild optimism does more harm than good. The response to the pandemic should be based on science, not politics. What's urgent is to prevent the potential collapse of the medical system. It is also necessary to avert a paralysis of essential functions such as law enforcement, fire-fighting and education amid the resurgent virus.
It is still premature to talk about a return to normal life as Korea is waging an uphill battle against the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of daily new infections stayed above 170,000 for the second straight day Thursday due to the fast spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant. The figure showed an explosive increase from 49,549 on Feb. 9 to 90,439 on Feb. 16, almost doubling every week.
What's more worrying is that the worst has yet to come. Health authorities predict the surge in coronavirus infections to peak early next month with daily cases rising to 270,000. On Thursday, 82 people died of the pandemic, raising the death toll to 7,689 with the fatality rate standing at 0.31 percent. The daily number of critically ill patients jumped nearly threefold to 581, compared to around 200 cases early last week.
Despite the deteriorating situation, the government has floated the idea of speeding up its drive toward a "return to normalcy" scheme. The Ministry of Health and Welfare said Tuesday that the country may be entering the final stages of the pandemic. A senior ministry official implied that the pandemic could soon turn into an endemic just like influenza. It would be welcome news if COVID-19 can be treated like the seasonal flu.
But we have to question whether it is the right time to be so optimistic about the future course of the coronavirus. The number of patients receiving at-home treatment has already exceeded 500,000, raising concerns about the country's overstretched healthcare system. Recently, two infant boys, four months old and seven months old, died because of the coronavirus while undergoing at-home treatment. More patients could die without proper medical attention amid the fast spread of the virus.
President Moon Jae-in mentioned a possible shift to normal life. Jeong Eun-kyeong, commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, hinted at easing social distancing rules if Omicron hits its peak. Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum also said that the government plans to revise social distancing and other measures once serious cases and deaths can be controlled stably, adding that there is no reason to have fears about the pandemic. However, they cannot avoid criticism for sending the wrong signal to the public about the raging pandemic.
Some critics argue that the government is trying to create a favorable condition for the ruling party's presidential candidate by putting forward optimistic views about the fight against COVID-19. They urge the authorities to learn a lesson from a mistake they committed when they prematurely introduced a "Living with COVID-19" strategy in November.
The government's optimism is based on Omicron's low fatality rate and severity compared to the Delta strain. But reckless and wild optimism does more harm than good. The response to the pandemic should be based on science, not politics. What's urgent is to prevent the potential collapse of the medical system. It is also necessary to avert a paralysis of essential functions such as law enforcement, fire-fighting and education amid the resurgent virus.
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