◀ anchor ▶
This is the news of COVID-19.
Yesterday, the number of new confirmed cases exceeded 350,000 and more than 250 people died.
The government sees this week as the culmination of the Omicron fad.
Also, starting tomorrow, even if a family member is confirmed, students and staff will be able to go to school without isolation.
Correspondent Lee Duk-young.
◀ Report ▶
There are 35,190 new cases of COVID-19.
It is the second highest number following yesterday, when the highest number of confirmed cases was recorded.
In the past week alone, there were 2.1 million confirmed cases, and the daily average number of confirmed cases reached 300,000.
However, the spread of the epidemic is slowly slowing down.
Compared to the beginning of February, when the number of confirmed cases surged nearly twice the previous week, it was counted to have increased 1.68 times in the fourth week of February and 1.43 times this week.
The government expects that the number of confirmed cases will gradually decrease following the peak of the Omicron epidemic within the next week or so.
But it’s too early to be reassured.
This is because it is predicted that the number of confirmed cases similar to the present will continue for the time being instead of a sharp decrease.
In addition, following the peak, the number of severe cases and deaths may actually increase.
[정재훈/가천대 의대 예방의학과 교수]
“If the peak is reached in mid-March, the peak of critically ill patients might be around the end of March or early April, and from then on will be the most difficult period for hospital bed operation…”
64.1% of severe beds and 67% of semi-severe beds are already occupied.
Today, the number of seriously ill patients exceeded 1,000 for the sixth day, and 1,74 people were recorded, and there were 251 deaths.
From tomorrow, the government plans to reduce the burden of testing personnel by recognizing the results of rapid antigen tests for experts conducted at local hospitals and clinics as confirmed without PCR testing.
[김부겸/국무총리(지난 11일)]
“Literally, this will allow for a quick verdict, which will allow us to preemptively block further infections.”
At the same time, starting tomorrow, students with confirmed family members, including family members, will be able to attend school regardless of whether they are vaccinated or not.
Vaccination plans for 5-11 year olds will also be announced tomorrow.
This is Lee Deok-young from MBC News.
Video coverage: Jung Woo-young / Video editing: Lee Sang-min
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