Korea's new Covid-19 cases jumped to a four-month high Tuesday due to summer vacation and increasing reinfections, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said.
According to the KDCA, the country added 149,897 new Covid-19 infections, up from 55,292 the previous day and 111,785 a week earlier. It marked the highest level since April 13, when the tally hit 195,387, bringing the total caseload to 20,694,239. Tuesday’s tally includes 588 cases from overseas.
Health officials attributed the steep growth of new virus cases to increased movements and contacts during the summer vacation.
They raised the weekly Covid-19 risk from “moderate” to “high” for the non-Seoul metro region. The officials, who had lowered their estimation of daily virus cases during the peak from 280,000 to 200,000, also returned to a more cautious stance, saying, “Further observation is needed to determine the trend more correctly.”
Health authorities said the latest wave of infections could peak as early as this week.
Daily Covid-19 cases have trended downward after peaking at around 620,000 in mid-March. However, since the authorities lifted almost all anti-pandemic curbs in April, infections have spiked again due to increased movement and public gatherings.
Imported cases have been rising, with their daily number standing in the 400-600 range this month, sharply higher than before the curbs were lifted.
The Central Disease Control Headquarters (CDCH) called for public attention to rising reinfections.
According to the headquarters, the reinfection cases in the third week of July totaled 27,713, about 3.1 times higher than 8,895 in the previous week. The share of reinfections also soared 1.7 times, from 3.71 percent to 6.59 percent during the period.
Officials attributed the sharp rise of reinfections to the increased share of BA.5 subvariant with far higher transmission and immunity-avoiding power and the lowered immunity levels earned by infections and vaccinations due to the passage of time. The detection rate of BA.5 subvariant in the first week of August jumped to 76.3 percent, compared to 66.8 percent in the previous week.
The headquarters reemphasized the need to abide by quarantine rules after initial infection and recovery and complete vaccination according to recommended timing.
“The Covid-19 spread is still on the rise with infection reproduction index staying above 1, and the share of BA.5 subvariant exceeding 70 percent,” said Lim Suk-young, head of overall situation management at CDCH. “In addition, reinfections are increasing. So, please keep quarantine rules and receive booster shots.”
As of Tuesday, 44.66 million, or 87 percent of the country's population, had received full two-dose vaccinations, and 33.49 million, or 65.3 percent, had received their first booster shots.
About 4.26 million people, or 12.2 percent of the population, had gotten their second booster shots, the KDCA said.
The KDCA reported 40 new deaths from Covid-19, raising the death toll to 25,332. The fatality rate was 0.12 percent. The number of severe cases also showed a three-month high of 364, up 40 from Monday’s 324.
About 85 percent of severely or critically ill patients were 60 or older, and 80 percent of Covid-19 deaths occurred among people 80 or older.