The fight against COVID-19 for the past six months feels like running the first 10 kilometers of a marathon “at full speed” said Jeong Eun-kyeong, chief of Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Gearing up for an “inevitably long fight” against the novel coronavirus, Jeong laid out major tasks for Korea: developing a vaccine and treatment, building up medical capacity for a spike in COVID-19 patients – especially in seriously ill patients, enhancing protection for at-risk groups, and settling a “social distancing” practice as part of our daily lives.

“In the situation where COVID-19 is raging worldwide and a long fight is inevitable, our goal is to contain and control the size and pace of the virus outbreaks to a level where our medical, quarantine and social systems can manage them so that we can protect lives of those in high-risk groups -- such as the elderly -- and minimize the social and economic fallout,” Jeong said at a briefing Monday.

Monday marks six months since Korea reported the first COVID-19 case on Jan. 20.

To not overwhelm the country’s health system and better cope with the prolonged pandemic, the country needs to secure more medical professionals and hospital beds in order to look after seriously ill patients. There also needs a more efficient epidemiological response system to trace and test COVID-19 patients, she added.

Jeong also noted the need to change the country’s institutions, culture and social practices for citizens to be able to keep personal hygiene and maintain physical distance with others in their daily lives. She referred to the system where more paid holidays are given or telecommuting is allowed as examples.  

For about a month after Korea saw the first COVID-19 patient on Jan. 20, the country reported about 30 cases -- about 1.03 persons a day -- mostly coming from China.

The virus situation here began to get serious in mid-February as hundreds of new cases were reported each day in connection with the country’s largest-yet cluster -- a branch of Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu. So far, a total of 5,213 people were linked to the cluster. Two other major clusters -- Cheongdo Daenam Hospital in North Gyeongsang Province and a call center in southwestern Seoul – also drove up the number of new cases. The second phase of the country’s anti-virus fight, from Feb. 18 to May 5, saw about 138.13 daily cases on average.

To slow the spread of the virus, the government rapidly and extensively traced, tested and treated COVID-19 patients. On top of that, it put in place a social distancing campaign in late February through early May. Starting on April 1, it required all inbound travelers from overseas to self-quarantine for two weeks to contain the influx of imported cases.

The efforts helped Korea largely bring coronavirus under control until the number of cases began to soar again after a long holiday in early May. The virus transmission that began at bars and clubs in Seoul’s party district led to outbreaks at logistics centers, churches and door-to-door sales events. Since May 6, the country saw about 39.29 cases a day on average until Monday.

On Monday, Korea reported 26 new COVID-19 cases, with 22 imported from overseas and four that were locally transmitted, according to the KCDC. The total caseload rose to 13,771.

The number of locally-transmitted cases fell to a single-digit figure for the first time in two months, since nine cases were reported on May 19.

As for locally transmitted cases, two were registered in Seoul and one each in Gwangju and South Jeolla Province.

Of the 22 imported cases, 10 were detected during the quarantine screening process at the border and the rest while the individuals were under mandatory self-quarantine in Korea. Eighteen of them were from Asia -- including 9 from the Philippines, three from Pakistan, two from Iraq, two from Kazakhstan and one from Indonesia. Two were from the United States and two from Mexico.

Imported cases remain a major concern for the health authorities. For the past two weeks, 59.5 percent of the COVID-19 cases were imported from overseas.

Of the country’s total 2,067 imported cases, 39 percent of them have come from Asia excluding China, followed by the Americas at 33.9 percent, Europe at 24.8 percent, Africa at 1.3 percent and China at 0.9 percent. Some 53.6 percent of the cases were detected after people entered the country, while the rest were found during the quarantine screening process at the border. The vast majority of the cases, or 68.2 percent, involved Korean nationals.

Starting Monday, the government added two more countries to the list of “high-risk” countries. Those traveling from any of the six countries are required to show a certificate issued within 48 hours proving that they tested negative for the coronavirus.

So far, 12,572 people, or 91.3 percent, have been released from quarantine after making full recoveries, up 16 from a day earlier. Some 903 people are receiving medical treatment under quarantine.

One more person has died, raising the death toll to 296. The overall fatality rate stands at 2.15 percent -- 2.56 percent for men and 1.82 percent for women. The rate is much higher for those in their 80s or over -- 25.26 percent -- and those in their 70s -- 9.55 percent.

The country has carried out 1,470,193 tests since Jan. 3, with 21,302 people awaiting results as of Wednesday.


By Ock Hyun-ju (laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)