Korea’s daily Covid-19 cases bounced back above 100,000 on Wednesday, as the BA.5, an Omicron subvariant, has emerged as the dominant strain.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) confirmed 100,285 new virus cases, raising the cumulative caseload to 19,446,946. Wednesday's number is the largest since 111,291, reported on April 20, and up from Tuesday's 99,327.
Imported cases also marked a record-high of 532 since Korea reported its first Covid-19 case in Jan. 2020. As a result, the death toll came to 24,932, up 25 from the previous day, with a fatality rate of 0.13 percent. Critically ill patients also increased from 168 to 177.
Health officials made clear that Korea would not reinstate its tough social distancing.
"To continue with the daily lives that we have worked so hard for, the quarantine policy must also be sustainable," KDCA Commissioner Peck Kyong-ran said in a briefing. "We will maintain the current stance of encouraging people to take quarantine steps on their own rather than reinforcing rules through mandates or fines."
The government, instead, announced a daily life quarantine guideline, which included encouraging telecommuting and recommending vacations for those with symptoms.
The policy aims to overcome the crisis of the Covid-19 resurgence by encouraging autonomous quarantine through guidance, public announcements, and on-site inspections without strengthening distancing rules.
"We are trying to overcome the resurgence through daily quarantine based on public participation," said Kim Sung-ho, head of the Central Disaster and Safety Management Headquarters (CDSMH). "The public's participation and cooperation are essential for daily quarantine based on autonomy and solidarity."
Still, health authorities tightened some measures by, for instance, recommending all public officials take a rapid antigen test when they return from holidays and asking government employees to show an example. The Ministry of Employment and Labor also strongly recommended that employers guarantee the use of paid or unpaid leave, annual leave, and family care leave for suspected cases.
The government will also ramp up on-site monitoring and inspection for antivirus and disinfection work at large entertainment establishments, including movie theaters, performance theaters, and sports facilities, and recommend all cram schools switch to remote classes.
However, health experts expressed concerns about how well the public will follow the recommendation that varies little from the existing countermeasures in a situation where the incentives for participation, such as support for paid vacation expenses and living expenses, have all but disappeared.
They pointed out that while the government may avoid backlash from self-employed and small business owners with the autonomous quarantine policy, the new government’s policy would have little to no effect on preventing the spread of Covid-19 if the public does not actively participate in it.
Some experts stressed that the government should reinstate certain incentives, including increased support for paid leave.
However, health officials remained lukewarm.
“Since the government's budget is limited, it is necessary to focus resources on necessary and urgent areas for a sustainable quarantine system,” said Im Sook-young, a senior official at the headquarters. “In a situation where the Covid-19 epidemic has been prolonged, it is difficult to predict how much more the number of cases will increase, and system reform was inevitable.”
Other experts expressed concerns that the government's follow-up measures, such as securing an additional 4,000 Covid-19 beds and expanding one-stop medical institutions, are progressing slower than planned.
The government announced that it would expand the number of one-stop medical institutions to 10,000 by the end of this month, but as of Tuesday, the government has only secured 6,562
"Currently, more than 11,000 institutions are capable of testing and diagnosis, but institutions that can treat the disease need to be expanded," said Park Hyang, head of the quarantine division at CDSMH. "There were obstacles in prescribing the treatment, but we have supplemented the method so that doctors can quickly determine the contraindicated drugs related to Paxlovid."
Park stressed that the government plans to designate pharmacies as close as possible to one-stop institutions so that citizens can receive the treatment without any hitch.
Health officials also stressed that it would be able to finalize securing the additional Covid-19 beds it previously announced.
"Instead of forcibly securing beds through an administrative order as in the past, we are confirming the number of beds available at each site and then increasing the beds as we adjust the pace," Park said. "We expect the remaining 52 percent to be designated within a week."
According to the KDCA, about 44.64 million among 52 million Koreans have been fully vaccinated. In addition, about 33.44 million people had received their first booster shots, and 5.34 million had their second booster shots.