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Winter may bring bigger COVID-19 challenges in Korea
A public health center in Seoul's Dongdaemun District is crowded by citizens waiting for COVID-19 testing, Friday. / Yonhap
By Jun Ji-hye
By Jun Ji-hye
Health experts and the authorities here are raising concerns that the upcoming winter months could bring a more serious phase of the COVID-19 pandemic if the government fails to control the spread of the coronavirus as cases have begun rising by triple digits day after day.
They said winter would offer a favorable environment for the new coronavirus to spread as it is known to be more virulent in cold, dry weather, and people gather more in confined spaces during the season.
According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), the country added 191 more COVID-19 infections for Thursday, 162 of which were local cases, raising the total caseload to 28,133.
The daily caseload, the highest in nearly two months, marked a triple-digit growth for the sixth consecutive day amid an increase in the number of both locally transmitted cases and those imported from overseas.
Concerns over further outbreaks are mounting as COVID-19 cases have been rising sharply around the world, especially in Europe and North America, as the northern hemisphere enters winter.
The World Health Organization noted that the next few months will be difficult, saying all governments must focus on the fundamentals that help to break the chain of COVID-19 transmission.
In Korea, COVID-19 infection clusters have continued to grow, with new cases emerging from social gatherings, schools, workplaces and saunas.
Most recently, more than 40 cases have been tracked to a call center in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province.
“As the weather is getting much colder, Europe, the United States and other countries have recently seen a rapid increase in the number of COVID-19 cases. A similar situation could occur in Korea in the upcoming winter season,” said Oh Myoung-don, an infectious disease expert at Seoul National University Hospital.
Oh said it would be more important than ever to diagnose and isolate those infected as fast as possible by utilizing antigen tests, which are faster than the standard polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, especially at facilities with a high risk of infections such as nursing homes.
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety approved one new antigen and antibody test kits each Wednesday in preparation for winter.
Oh added that the role of local governments will be very important in the case of a rapid surge in infections during winter, calling on them to preemptively prepare community treatment centers for patients with minor symptoms to prevent a situation in which crucially ill patients cannot be treated properly because of a shortage of beds.
What is adding to the concerns is that some progressive groups including the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) are planning to stage massive rallies across the country, Saturday.
The health authorities are staying on high alert over the possibility that the rallies could cause another mass outbreak of COVID-19.
“The government may have no choice but to raise its social distancing level from the current Level 1 to Level 1.5 if the current increasing trend in the number of virus cases continues,” Yoon Tae-ho, a senior health ministry official in charge of containment measures, said during a media briefing.