Korea reported 6,603 COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, marking an increase of 798 cases from a day earlier, mostly prompted by the rapid spread of the Omicron variant. This means the daily number of infections surpassed 6,000 for the first time since Dec. 24 when it stood at 6,233. It is a sharp increase of 2,439 cases from the 4,164 reported Jan. 13.
The Korea Disaster Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) has attributed the recent upsurge to the highly-transmissible Omicron variant, which is more than two times as contagious as the Delta variant. For instance, the Omicron variant, which accounted for 12.5 percent of total infections in the first week of January, rose to 26.7 percent last week. Health authorities say that should such a trend continue, it is certain that Omicron will become the dominant strain starting this week.
The spread of the highly-transmissible variant has already put many other countries on an alert. For starters, Japan saw an explosive increase in the number of daily new infections to 3,200 on Jan. 18, although it stood at only 500 on Jan. 1. The United States also saw a sevenfold growth in the number of new infections in only one month. The U.S. is also suffering from difficulties in coping with the soaring number of critically-ill COVID-19 patients and deaths.
The raging Omicron variant can possibly take its toll on healthcare, education, care service, transport, and other sectors as seen in many European countries including France and Germany. Korea cannot be an exception. It is, however, fortunate that the nation has registered a relatively lower rate of critically-ill patients. Yet this does not necessarily mean that we can be complacent. Rather, we should take proper preemptive measures to prepare for the worst-case scenario.
Today marks the second anniversary of the outbreak of COVID-19 here in Korea. In the course of the four waves of the pandemic, 712,503 people were infected with the virus resulting in 6,480 deaths. We have also experienced enormous social and economic damage resulting from the prolonged pandemic. What is most urgent is to check the spread of the Omicron variant. We believe that the nation can bring the pandemic under control if health authorities work together with the people under an effective leadership.
It is imperative to take preemptive measures to head off an Omicron disaster. The current quarantine and treatment system cannot deal with the pandemic effectively if the number of daily new infections exceeds 20,000. The Moon Jae-in administration has been boasting of the merits of the so-called “K-quarantine,” which has so far functioned well. Yet the time may come when the government should adopt entirely different remedies. The government should reset its public health crisis management system to win the fight against COVID-19.