Citizens wait for medical treatment wearing masks at the respiratory center of Keimyung University Dongsan Hospital in Dalseo-gu, Daegu on the 20th as the spread of COVID-19 intensifies. Yonhap News,
, ‘The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency forecasted that the summer COVID-19 outbreak, which is intensifying, will continue until the end of this month and then decline.’,
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, ‘Jeoung Mi Kwon, the head of the KDCA, said in a briefing on the 21st, “The summer outbreak is expected to continue until the end of August and then decrease” and said, “Last winter, COVID-19 spread relatively less, and the vaccination rate was low, and the KP.3 variant, a descendant of Omicron, spread.”‘,
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, ‘She added, “From January 2020 to August last year, the cumulative fatality rate of COVID-19 was 0.1%, and last year’s fatality rate was 0.05%,” and “The fatality rate of the Omicron variant is similar to seasonal flu, but there is a need to protect the elderly.”‘,
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, The KDCA’s policy is to respond to this outbreak through enhanced management of infection-vulnerable facilities, strengthened medical responses, establishment of COVID-19 infection prevention guidelines, supply of COVID-19 treatments and diagnostic kits, and preventive vaccinations for the 2024-2025 seasons.,
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, ‘The head said, “We will operate joint dedicated response teams for local governments to strengthen patient management from the early stages of patient occurrence at public health centers” and said, “We will also establish a medical response system so that patients can receive treatment in a timely manner according to the severity of their condition in preparation for an increase in COVID-19 patients.”‘,
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, ‘She also announced, “We will stably supply treatments and diagnostic kits, and starting from October, we will introduce the COVID-19 JN.1 vaccine, which is effective against recent outbreak variants, for vaccination.” Analysis suggests that the JN.1 vaccine, effective against the currently prevalent KP.3 variant, will also be effective against KP.3 as both variants show no significant genetic differences.’,
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, ‘Furthermore, the KDCA urged to adhere to rules such as wearing masks, washing hands, cough etiquette, and indoor ventilation for COVID-19 prevention.‘