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| A medical staffer carries out COVID-19 testing on a resident at a public health center in Gwangju, Wednesday. / Yonhap |
By Jun Ji-hye
Concerns are growing here over a possible fourth wave of COVID-19 infections after the health authorities said they were seeing a consistent increase in the number of people infected with new variants of the coronavirus, which are known to be more transmissible.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said Wednesday that it had confirmed ― as of Tuesday ― 39 cases of extra-contagious variants of COVID-19 since last October
Of the 39, 27 were from the United Kingdom, followed by seven from South Africa and five from Brazil.
Adding to concerns is that five patients were infected with the new variants in Korea, unlike the others who arrived from abroad.
"The five cases show the increasing possibility of the spread of the new variants within local communities," a KDCA official said. "We will expand new variant testing to those who have not traveled overseas."
The recent emergence of several COVID-19 mutations has been putting health authorities and experts around the world on alert as they are more transmissible than the original strain and thus are poised to complicate the global fight against the prolonged pandemic.
Korea is one of nine countries where all three variants of the coronavirus have been found, the KDCA said, noting that it is remaining vigilant over the possibility that they could cause a fourth wave of infections.
The country experienced its first wave of infections centered on the Daegu branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in February and March, and the second wave in August and September after a large-scale rally took place in central Seoul, Aug. 15.
The third wave, caused by continuous infection clusters in local communities, is still ongoing.
Health experts expressed concerns as the emergence of the COVID-19 mutations could lower the efficacy of vaccinations that are set to be administered starting later this month.
Vaccines developed by Pfizer, AstraZeneca and Moderna have no data about their efficacy for the new variants as their clinical trials were completed before they emerged. Products from Johnson & Johnson's Janssen and Novavax have been shown to have a less preventive effect against the new variants during their clinical trials.
"Infection clusters in local communities will continue until the COVID-19 situation comes to an end," said Kim Woo-joo, an infectious disease specialist at Korea University. "Even after inoculations begin, there could be a problem in the delivery of vaccines, and nobody will be able to guarantee how well they will respond to the new variants."
According to the KDCA, the country added 467 more COVID-19 cases, including 433 local infections, for Tuesday, raising the total accumulated number to 79,311.
The daily new cases increased from 336 identified Monday due largely to continued COVID-19 outbreaks traced to nursing homes and large hospitals.
