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| Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol speaks during a virtual press conference, Thursday. Courtesy of the Ministry of Health and Welfare |
Still long way to go as daily infections stay above 170,000 for 2nd day
By Lee Hyo-jin
The Korean government may adopt a pandemic exit plan after the Omicron wave peaks, which it believes will come in mid-March, revising quarantine measures toward a phased return to normalcy, according to Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol, Thursday.
"Experts predict that the current wave will reach its peak in mid-March, after which, as seen in other countries, the number of infections will begin to fall," Kwon said during a virtual press conference.
"And if the virus situation at that time is deemed manageable within our medical capacity, we will review revising our social distancing measures," he added.
Kwon said that, though there is still a long way to go, the government is in the initial stage of drawing up a detailed roadmap for an exit from the pandemic, based on which, the country would move into a new phase where the coronavirus is managed like an endemic disease.
But the health minister noted that moving into the "return to normalcy" scheme does not signal a full termination of the pandemic-related measures, saying, "People would still need to adhere to basic quarantine rules."
The minister also responded to calls from critics that the government should refrain from downplaying the severity of the current situation. Kwon said that the ministry's pandemic response measures are based on the characteristics of the Omicron variant.
Recent remarks from health officials that "the country may be entering the final stages of the pandemic" have been met with criticism from medical experts, who called on the government for more prudent communication on the risks, as the country has yet to reach the peak of the Omicron surge.
"But even if we did give out stronger, more conservative messages to the public, people might not actually follow them, now that they are aware of Omicron's characteristics," said Kwon.
When asked about the idea of attaining herd immunity through infections, a path once pursued by some countries like Sweden, he said, "It seems like a risky idea. The Korean government will control the virus situation by minimizing the number of infections through necessary social distancing measures."
The minister also vowed to improve the self-treatment scheme so that every patient can receive due medical attention in a timely manner.
A seven-month-old baby in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, who had been in home treatment, died while being transferred to a hospital, Feb. 20, after the paramedics struggled to find an empty hospital bed for him in 10 different hospitals.
On Feb. 15, a pregnant woman in her 30s living in Gwangju was forced to give birth in an ambulance, after an isolated negative pressure delivery room for COVID-19 patients failed to be located.
"We will make sure that patients do not miss the golden hour by designating the National Medical Center as the control tower in responding to emergency patients, while increasing the number of emergency rooms for COVID-19 patients across the nation," said Kwon.
Meanwhile, the country added 170,016 new infections for Wednesday, raising the aggregated total to 2,499,188, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. The daily number of deaths stood at 82 with 581 patients in critical condition.
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