Jung Eun-kyung, head of the Central Disease Control Headquarters (Director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), stressed on the 27th, "It is important to calmly overcome the crisis without being overly anxious or overly optimistic about the Omikron epidemic."
"The government has been preparing for the Omicron epidemic, such as tertiary vaccinations, conversion of tests and epidemiological response systems, and securing treatment beds and treatments," said Jeong, who held a regular briefing at the Central Disease Control Headquarters.
In particular, he said, "Please keep the 3rd inoculation, health mask, face-to-face contact minimization, and examination as a countermeasure rule for Omikron. We will do our best to minimize seriousness and death damage by focusing PCR tests on high-risk groups and using secured beds and treatments." Meanwhile, Director Jeong added, "Fortunately, Omicron mutations are lower in severity than Delta, and recent outbreaks are mainly occurring in people in their 40s or younger with mild or asymptomatic symptoms, so severe treatment capabilities are currently maintained."
Director Jeong predicted, "As the Omicron mutation virus prevails, the number of confirmed cases is increasing rapidly due to high infectious power, and the number of confirmed cases will continue to increase for a considerable period of time." He then explained, "The recent outbreak pattern is attributed to 80% of confirmed patients under the age of 40 with a relatively low risk of seriousness, and the low tertiary inoculation rate is considered to be the reason."
On the other hand, he said, "As the incidence rate is decreasing in those in their 50s and 60s with a high tertiary inoculation rate, the number of critical patients is also decreasing. As a result of analyzing the severity of the Omicron epidemic, the severity rate and fatality rate were lower than the national average." In response, Jeong announced the rules of action against Omicron, saying, "The goal of quarantine in response to the Omicron epidemic is to manage the trend as stably as possible to minimize damage."
First of all, COVID-19 vaccination is the most effective means of responding to Omicron mutations, which can suppress the spread of Omicron mutations with strong propagation power and prevent severe and death at a high level. In particular, according to a domestic survey, neutralizing antibodies to omicron mutations increased 10.5 to 113.2 times compared to before inoculation after the third inoculation with mRNA vaccines, and the hospitalization prevention effect for omicron mutations remained 80 to 85% until 4-6 months. [Source] Korean policy briefing (www.Korea.kr)