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| Students at an elementary school in the southwestern city of Gwangju receive coronavirus tests, Tuesday, following infections at the school. Yonhap |
By Lee Hyo-jin
The Omicron variant of the coronavirus is likely to replace the Delta variant to become the dominant strain in Korea, health officials said Tuesday.
Health authorities here are on high alert, as the country saw its biggest spike in the number of Omicron cases on Monday, following the identification of the first cases in the country on Dec. 1. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 49 new Omicron infections, pushing up the total caseload to 227.
The KDCA detected cluster infections at a kindergarten in Iksan, North Jeolla Province, and a state-run facility Gwangju. Twenty cases have been detected at the kindergarten and nine at the state-run facility.
The spread of the Omicron variant is roughly three times faster than that of the Delta variant, according to the agency.
It took just 20 days for the Omicron variant to spread among 227 people. In contrast, it took 60 days for the Delta variant to reach the same figure after the first cases were reported on April 22.
In addition, the Omicron variant is causing breakthrough infections in people who received booster shots, raising concerns that three doses of the COVID-19 vaccine may not offer sufficient protection against the new strain.
As of Tuesday, five people have tested positive for the virus, despite each having received a booster shot. Among them, three had received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine as their primary vaccination. Another had been administered with an AstraZeneca vaccine and a booster shot of Pfizer, while the remaining person had received three doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
At this pace, Korea's public health authorities believe that Omicron, likely the most transmissible variant so far, may become the dominant strain in one or two months, replacing the Delta variant.
"When Omicron was first identified in the world in November, overseas studies predicted that it would become the dominant strain in major countries in two to three months, and we believe Korea will not be an exception," Lee Sang-won, a senior official at the KDCA, said during a briefing on Monday.
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| A medical worker collects a sample for a coronavirus test at a testing center near Seoul Station, Tuesday. Yonhap |
The Omicron variant has already taken over as the dominant strain in several countries, including South Africa, where it was first reported, the United Kingdom and the United States.
In the U.S., the variant accounted for 73 percent of infections last week, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Some overseas experts have offered optimistic views of the current situation, given that most patients infected with the variant have shown mild symptoms. In an optimistic scenario, once Omicron takes over, the coronavirus could be treated like a seasonal flu, they said.
But local experts and officials warn against making premature conclusions, considering that there is still not enough real-world data.
"Currently, we need more data on the severity of the variant. It is risky to remain optimistic about the variant due to its mild symptoms," Lee at the KDCA said.
Jacob Lee, an infectious disease specialist at Hallym University Sacred Hospital, wrote on Facebook, "Although the Omicron variant may be less virulent, the highly transmissible version of the virus will lead to an increase in infections among the unvaccinated, leading to a surge in critically ill patients."
Meanwhile, Korea added 5,202 daily new infections for Monday, and the number of patients in critical condition was 1,022. The figure has been hovering around 1,000 after hitting an all-time high of 1,025 on Saturday.
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