Lee Hyo-jin covers the Bank of Korea, the banking industry and broader financial news. Her previous beats include foreign affairs, North Korea and general reporting on Korean society.
Policy missteps, population density cause worst Omicron wave in Korea: experts
A screen at Songpa District Office in Seoul shows the all-time high of 621,328 daily COVID-19 cases reported for Wednesday. Yonhap
By Lee Hyo-jin
Daily infections jump 55 percent to 621,328; COVID-related deaths at all-time high of 429
By Lee Hyo-jin
The country's numbers of daily new COVID-19 infections, critical cases and deaths are ballooning to unprecedented levels as Korea enters the peak of the Omicron wave.
The number of daily new infections for Wednesday hit an all-time high at 621,328, a 55-percent jump from 400,741 the previous day, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The agency added 429 COVID-19-related deaths ― also an all-time high ― while 1,159 patients were in critical condition.
The health ministry viewed that the spike in infections was attributable to aggressive testing using rapid antigen tests conducted by medical personnel at clinics, which have identified “hidden infections” that have not been detected using only PCR tests.
Until this Monday, only PCR tests conducted at screening centers had been included in the official daily infection tally, but now rapid antigen tests conducted by doctors and reported to the ministry are also recognized.
The daily figures have gone far beyond the level the health ministry had anticipated, as it had previously projected that infections would peak at around 370,000 only.
“We view that the wave is heading toward the peak, and will be reached within this week or early next week,” said health ministry spokesman Son Young-rae during a briefing, Thursday.
While yet to reach its peak, Korea's COVID-19 situation is already far worse than that of other countries during the worst of the Omicron waves there in January, according to figures from Our World in Data.
In Korea, as of March 15, the number of daily new cases per 1 million people stood at 6,370.47, which is more than double of that of the United States when the Omicron wave there peaked at 2,423.66 on Jan. 16, and that of the United Kingdom (2,607.06 on Jan. 9), as well as higher than that of France at the pinnacle of the Omicron wave (5,356.76 on Jan. 24).
Local medical experts said there are multiple factors that led Korea into the current disaster, but pointed out that the government's quarantine measures in the last few weeks have been heading in the wrong direction.
“The government began easing quarantine measures substantially as the March 9 presidential election drew nearer. There was no scientific or medical basis for these decisions. Rather, they were driven by political intentions,” said Choi Jae-wook, a professor of preventive medicine at Korea University.
He added, “It seemed like they were trying to appeal to the voters, who were tired of the social distancing measures, by giving them more freedom.”
Choi also criticized the authorities for continuing to downplay the severity of the Omicron variant, comparing it to the seasonal flu.
“Omicron cannot be considered similar to the flu when the former is five to 10 times more contagious. And let me make something clear: the flu does not take the lives of 2,000 people in just three weeks, nor does it infect over 500,000 people per day,” he explained.
Chon Eun-mi, a respiratory disease specialist at Ewha Woman's University Mokdong Hospital, said there were two main reasons for the explosive number of infections here: the population density and the government's complacency.
“Omicron has spread like wildfire, especially throughout the Seoul metropolitan area, where about half of population lives. Also, the government made a critical mistake at the beginning of the Omicron wave, relying too much on the high vaccination rate,” she said.
“It should have taken lessons from other countries that vaccines are not a panacea against Omicron. They may prevent patients from falling into critical condition, but the vaccines developed to this date have proven to have little effect in preventing Omicron infections,” she said.
Paramedics and medical workers transfer a COVID-19 patient to a treatment center in Seoul, Thursday. Yonhap
Unlike the health authorities who projected that the infections would peak by next week, the experts were more cautious.
“It's becoming more difficult to predict when the infections will peak because the government continues to relax the quarantine measures,” Choi said, expressing deep concerns that the sheer numbers of new infections added each day will result in hundreds of daily fatalities in the next couple of weeks.
“To prevent further unnecessary suffering and deaths, the government must immediately admit its failure and provide accurate information about the severity of the current situation,” he said.
Chon said, “As a doctor treating COVID-19 patients at the hospital, I don't understand why the government is not actively using oral antiviral treatments to prevent those in vulnerable groups from falling into severe condition. With more supplies to come, Paxlovid should be distributed to as many patients as possible in a timely manner.”