Time to collaborate to find feasible solutions
It is shocking to see that more than 20 percent of the nation's population has been infected with COVID-19 following a resurgence in infections. On Thursday, Korea reported 395,598 new COVID-19 cases, down by 95,283 from Wednesday. But the cumulative total reached 10,832,836 as of midnight Wednesday, only 46 days after the total number of caseloads surpassed 1 million.
Health authorities cite the highly contagious Omicron variant plus the rise of the Stealth Omicron variant. Concerns are growing as it is impossible to predict the peak of the infections, although authorities earlier foresaw that the case would peak and start to decline from this Wednesday. According to a report released by the World Health Organization (WHO) Wednesday, Korea reported 2,817,214 new infections over the past three weeks, which is the largest number of new cases in the world.
What is most worrisome is the rapidly increasing number of deaths, which stood at a record 470 Thursday. Korea already registered the world record of 429 new deaths on Feb. 17. It also posted 340 deaths a day on average by Wednesday over the past one week. The actual number of deaths may increase further considering those who died after being released from isolation and those who died while being unable to be treated due to shortage of hospital beds.
Some critics describe such a situation as an "anarchic state without a government," well indicating the seriousness of the situation. There are even some reported cases pregnant women being unable to find hospitals for delivery due to COVID-19 infection, while patients in grave conditions passed away inside an ambulance due to a lack of hospital beds. Hospitals are running out of the oral COVID-19 treatment Paxlovid.
The proportion of Stealth Omicron, which is 30 percent more infectious than Omicron, has already exceeded 41 percent among domestic cases. The United States and the United Kingdom have seen Omicron infections peak with a declining number of new cases being detected. Yet the two nations have begun to see a rise in new cases due to the surge in Omicron variant infections. There is still anxiety over the possible rise of a new variant. In fact, in some countries, the "Deltacron variant" was discovered as a mixture of the Delta and Omicron variants.
The crisis situation has mainly been due to the failures in the government's quarantine measures. The so-called K-quarantine approach has proved to be a failure as it relied on short-sighted remedies without offering mid-and long-term tactics. Ahn Cheol-soo, chairman of the transition committee, criticized the Moon Jae-in administration for implementing "politicized" quarantines.
The doctor turned politician has offered recommendations such as allowing small hospitals to conduct face-to-face treatments and fast-track remedies for highly vulnerable patients. The Moon administration should meet with the transition team members soon to discuss feasible quarantine measures over the most critical COVID-19 issue. President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol also suggested that overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic is the most pressing task for him. It is high time for the incoming and outgoing administrations to closely collaborate to find a solution.
It is shocking to see that more than 20 percent of the nation's population has been infected with COVID-19 following a resurgence in infections. On Thursday, Korea reported 395,598 new COVID-19 cases, down by 95,283 from Wednesday. But the cumulative total reached 10,832,836 as of midnight Wednesday, only 46 days after the total number of caseloads surpassed 1 million.
Health authorities cite the highly contagious Omicron variant plus the rise of the Stealth Omicron variant. Concerns are growing as it is impossible to predict the peak of the infections, although authorities earlier foresaw that the case would peak and start to decline from this Wednesday. According to a report released by the World Health Organization (WHO) Wednesday, Korea reported 2,817,214 new infections over the past three weeks, which is the largest number of new cases in the world.
What is most worrisome is the rapidly increasing number of deaths, which stood at a record 470 Thursday. Korea already registered the world record of 429 new deaths on Feb. 17. It also posted 340 deaths a day on average by Wednesday over the past one week. The actual number of deaths may increase further considering those who died after being released from isolation and those who died while being unable to be treated due to shortage of hospital beds.
Some critics describe such a situation as an "anarchic state without a government," well indicating the seriousness of the situation. There are even some reported cases pregnant women being unable to find hospitals for delivery due to COVID-19 infection, while patients in grave conditions passed away inside an ambulance due to a lack of hospital beds. Hospitals are running out of the oral COVID-19 treatment Paxlovid.
The proportion of Stealth Omicron, which is 30 percent more infectious than Omicron, has already exceeded 41 percent among domestic cases. The United States and the United Kingdom have seen Omicron infections peak with a declining number of new cases being detected. Yet the two nations have begun to see a rise in new cases due to the surge in Omicron variant infections. There is still anxiety over the possible rise of a new variant. In fact, in some countries, the "Deltacron variant" was discovered as a mixture of the Delta and Omicron variants.
The crisis situation has mainly been due to the failures in the government's quarantine measures. The so-called K-quarantine approach has proved to be a failure as it relied on short-sighted remedies without offering mid-and long-term tactics. Ahn Cheol-soo, chairman of the transition committee, criticized the Moon Jae-in administration for implementing "politicized" quarantines.
The doctor turned politician has offered recommendations such as allowing small hospitals to conduct face-to-face treatments and fast-track remedies for highly vulnerable patients. The Moon administration should meet with the transition team members soon to discuss feasible quarantine measures over the most critical COVID-19 issue. President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol also suggested that overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic is the most pressing task for him. It is high time for the incoming and outgoing administrations to closely collaborate to find a solution.
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