Seoul: South Korea recorded more than 8,000 new Coronavirus infections for the first time on Tuesday as the health authority reshaped the country’s pandemic response to overcome the surge in an omicron variant that was very contagious.
8,571 new cases reported by the Control Agency and Prevention of Korean Diseases was followed three consecutive days exceeding 7,000.
With Omicron spread more than twice as fast as Delta tensions which caused the last surge, experts said new cases might exceed 10,000 this week and maybe 20,000 after the Lunar New Year holiday holiday that began this weekend and continued until next Wednesday.
To prevent a sudden explosion of infection from extraordinary hospitals and disrupt workplaces and important services, South Korea will reduce the quarantine period, expand testing and treat more people at home.
Starting on Wednesday, the quarantine period for people who test positive after being fully vaccinated will be reduced from 10 days today for seven days.
People who are fully vaccinated who come with close contact with the virus operator will not be placed under quarantine.
Officials also plan to treat large amounts of light or moderate cases at home and expand the use of fast antigen tests to detect more faster infections.
Omicron has become a dominant variant in many countries and is easier to infect those who have been vaccinated or have Covid-19 before.
But shooting vaccination and booster still provide strong protection from serious illness, hospitalization and death.
On Tuesday, more than 85 percent of South Koreans more than 51 million (5.1 crore) were fully vaccinated.
More than 49 percent of the population has been given a booster shot.