Renewed discussions on the seven-day mandatory quarantine for COVID-19 patients have begun, but related restrictions appear likely to remain in place due to the recent resurgence of cases.

The Yoon Suk-yeol administration’s new expert committee for infectious disease, under the wing of the prime minister‘s office, will discuss whether to keep the quarantine measure in place, and the government will announce its decision Wednesday.

Other antivirus measures are also to be discussed during the committee’s meetings, the government added.

The country‘s plan to lift the mandatory quarantine measure has been under discussion since April, when the government lowered the infectious disease level of COVID-19. The government then added it would also scrap the country’s mandatory quarantine measure by May 23. But, the government decided to maintain the rule until June 20 amid resurgence woes.

Last month, the government extended the quarantine measure once more for another four weeks, pushing it back to Friday.

At the moment, it is likely that the government will keep the mandatory quarantine measure, as BA.5, a new subvariant of omicron, is quickly gaining prevalence in the country.

A member of the state-led committee also reportedly hinted that the government will not lift the mandatory quarantine measure due to recent increases in COVID-19 figures.

On Monday, the country’s health authorities reported that its daily infections during the 24 hours of Sunday reached 12,693, doubled from 6,253 a week ago. The number of severe cases is also steadily climbing, reaching 71 as of midnight Sunday, up from 56 a week prior.

The country’s COVID-19 test positivity rate has also increased over the last week, reaching 19 percent, up 7 percentage points from 12 percent two weeks ago. According to government data, the number of infections increased by some 40 percent last week as compared to a week prior. The number of COVID-19 tests during the same period, however, increased by only 4.5 percent to 535,471.

BA.5, which is transmitted more quickly than previous subvariants, also poses a threat as the summer vacation season approaches.

According to data released by a government-affiliated organization of Gangwon Province, the number of visitors to beaches in the province this year is expected to increase by more than 4 million, up from annual average visitor numbers of some 750,000 in 2020 and 2021.

Experts said that the resurgence could peak between mid-August and early September, with daily COVID-19 cases reaching approximately 150,000. The government likewise noted the daily count could reach up to 150,000 or 200,000.

(ws@heraldcorp.com)