Tag: COVID-19

Cases continue to rise, but the fatality rate from COVID has continued to plummet for ROK citizens; just three weeks ago it was .69% and now it is .35%:

South Korea’s new COVID-19 infections surpassed 150,000 for the first time Tuesday amid the fast spread of the omicron variant across the country.

According to health authorities and local governments, a total of 158,005 cases had been confirmed nationwide as of 9 p.m., up 60,070 from 97,935 posted the same time the previous day. The previous daily high was set last Friday at 109,823.

The death toll from COVID-19 came to 7,508, up 58 from Monday. The fatality rate was 0.35 percent, according to the KDCA.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Health experts had been saying they expected the daily COVID rate to surpass 100,000 before it started to decline. They were right about the 100,000 so hopefully soon Korea will start seeing a decline:

South Korea’s daily COVID-19 cases surpassed 100,000 for the first time Thursday, as the highly transmissible omicron variant fueled a surge of infections around the country.

According to health authorities and local governments, a total of 100,870 cases had been confirmed nationwide as of 9 p.m., up 10,642 from the 90,228 posted the same time the previous day, which was the largest-ever number for that time.

The total number for Thursday is expected to rise further as daily cases are counted until midnight and announced the following morning. (……)

The death toll from COVID-19 came to 7,238, up 36 from Wednesday. The fatality rate was 0.44 percent, the KDCA said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but the fatality rate continues to drop when earlier this week it was .49%. Two weeks ago it was .69%.

South Korea is experiencing a huge amount of cases, but it is actually leading to a lower fatality rate as more Koreans recover from the virus:

South Korea’s daily virus cases surpassed the grim milestone of 80,000 Tuesday, as the highly transmissible omicron variant fueled a surge of cases around the country.

According to health authorities and local governments, a total of 85,114 infection cases had been confirmed nationwide as of 9 p.m., up 28,787 from the same time a day ago. 

The figure was up 2.1 times from a week ago and 5.4 times from two weeks ago. (……)

The KDCA said the death toll from COVID-19 came to 7,163, up 61 from the previous day. The fatality rate was 0.49 percent.

The KDCA said the number of critically ill COVID-19 patients was 314, up eight from a day earlier, it added. The daily tally stayed above 300 for the second straight day.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but just two days ago when the daily COVID number was over 56,000 the fatality rate was .52%. Nearly two weeks ago the fatality rate was .68%.

At this point I don’t even know what the point of publishing daily case counts are now. Authorities should instead just publish hospitalizations and deaths:

South Korea’s daily COVID-19 cases hit a fresh record of 56,431 on Sunday, as the highly transmissible omicron variant continued to spread quickly across the nation.

The fresh cases, including 56,297 local infections, raised the country’s total caseload to 1,350,630, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

The latest figure marks the fourth day in a row with daily infections above the 50,000 level. A total of 54,941 cases were reported Saturday. (………..)

The number of critically ill COVID-19 patients was 288, up 13 from a day earlier, the KDCA said. The daily tally has stayed in the 200s for 16 days in a row.

The number of patients receiving at-home treatment also rose to an all-time high of 214,869.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

It appears that South Korea’s current COVID wave has not yet hit its plateau as cases continue to grow to record levels after the Lunar New Year holiday:

South Korea’s daily COVID-19 infections rose sharply to hit another high of nearly 50,000 on Wednesday amid the fast spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant across the nation.

The country reported 49,567 new COVID-19 infections, including 49,402 local cases, raising the total to 1,131,248, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

It marked the first time that the daily tally exceeded the 40,000 level. The previous daily record high was 38,689 recorded Sunday.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but according to the article health authorities say cases could peak at 170,000 by the end of the month. However, as this current wave is showing the cases are not necessarily important it is the hospitalizations which so far South Korea has been able to effectively manage.

If USFK servicemembers are any indication South Korea may still have a few weeks before they enter into a decline in COVID cases:

South Korea reached a new pandemic high of 20,270 coronavirus cases on Tuesday as the nation wrapped up the Lunar New Year holiday, three days typically marked by widespread travel on the peninsula.

Tuesday’s count was 1,928 cases higher than the previous record of 18,342 infections logged the day before, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Center. Over 6,000 cases were reported in Gyeonggi province, where Camp Humphreys, the largest U.S. military base overseas, is located.

Meanwhile, U.S. Forces Korea reported 196 new COVID-19 cases for the week ending Monday, its third consecutive week of declining numbers. USFK confirmed 379 new infections the previous week and a pandemic high of 1,599 between Jan. 4 and 10.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but in Japan USFJ servicemembers are experiencing the same trend of lowering cases while Japan’s daily COVID case rate surged to over 142,000.

It looks like the omicron variant has become the dominant strain in South Korea now judging the by the increasing case numbers despite enhanced social distancing measures being implemented:

 South Korea’s daily coronavirus cases on Sunday spiked to the second-largest figure since the pandemic outbreak, putting health authorities on alert amid the fast spread of the omicron variant.

The country added 7,630 new COVID-19 infections, including 7,343 local infections, raising the total caseload to 733,902, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

Sunday’s figure marks the second-largest tally since the daily record high of 7,848 on Dec. 15.

The daily tally surged at a fast pace last week from the 4,000 level to over 6,000 on Thursday and above 7,000 on Saturday, nearly doubling in less than a week.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but despite the increasing cases the Korean government has decided to lower the quarantine period from 10 to 7 days. This is arguably because too many people are being put out of work for too long thus impacting the economy.

I wonder if this Pfizer anti-viral pills will become a subject of conspiracy theories like their vaccine?:

The first batch of Pfizer Inc.’s antiviral COVID-19 treatment pills arrived in South Korea on Thursday as the country is working to stem the spread of coronavirus infections, health officials said. 

The U.S. pharmaceutical giant’s oral pills for 21,000 people landed at Incheon airport, west of Seoul, at around 2 p.m. and were delivered to a logistics center in Ochang, 120 kilometers south of the capital, at 5:25 p.m., according to the authorities. 

The Paxlovid pills will begin being administered to patients with compromised immune systems and those aged over 65 on Friday. 

“They will be delivered to designated pharmacies and treatment centers across the country by tomorrow, or the day after,” Lim Sook-young, a senior official at the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, said.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here is the latest on the COVID situation in Japan:

The U.S. and Japan on Sunday agreed to keep American troops within their bases as worries grew about a sharp rise in coronavirus cases in the country. 

The restrictions starting Monday will last 14 days, confining U.S. military personnel to base facilities except for “essential activities,” a statement from the U.S. Forces in Japan said. The Japanese Foreign Ministry released the same statement. 

The allies will share information and cooperate on coronavirus measures, “given the extraordinary virulence of the omicron variant spreading throughout Japan,” the statement said. 

U.S. military members will wear masks, both on and off base, when outside their homes, and will continue to carry out strict testing before leaving for and after arrival in Japan, it said. 

New COVID-19 cases have surged in Japan, jumping above 8,000 on Saturday, a four-month record. The spike has been most pronounced in areas near U.S. bases. Last week, Japan asked the U.S. for cooperation in keeping its military personnel on base.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

It looks like it is going to be a tough few weeks for U.S. troops in South Korea as they face nearly a soft lockdown on their off post activities:

 U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) said Saturday it has decided to toughen social distancing rules for its service members amid the growing number of infections among its troops.

The USFK had confirmed a weekly record high of 682 additional COVID-19 cases among its personnel from Dec. 28 to Tuesday. It did not offer more details, including the number of breakthrough cases or locations of the infected members.

“Due to the continued presence of COVID-19 within United States Forces Korea and South Korea, USFK has increased its health protection condition to ‘Bravo Plus’ peninsula-wide effective today at 12 p.m. until further notice,” the USFK said in a statement.

Under the scheme, the U.S. military will prohibit all personnel from visiting off-base facilities, such as indoor malls and gyms.

Access to bars and saunas will also be banned, though the USFK had previously banned such activities for non-vaccinated personnel only.

Seated dining at restaurants outside the base will also be restricted.

The USFK added it will prohibit its personnel from traveling to Seoul except for official duties or those who live there.

The total number of COVID-19 cases reported among the USFK-affiliated population totaled 3,027 as of Tuesday. The USFK said nearly 90 percent of its affiliated community is vaccinated.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.