[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] As the risk of new coronavirus (COVID-19) variants increases, health authorities stated that the proportion of whole genome sequencing to identify COVID-19 variants is not lower compared to major countries.
On the 13th, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said in a briefing by the Central Disease Control Headquarters, "From January to December last year, a total of 2,269 whole genome sequences were conducted, which accounts for 3.7% of total confirmed cases," adding, "The sequencing rate compared to confirmed cases is not lower than that of major countries."
Of the total 2,269 cases, 1,700 were domestic cases (3% of domestic confirmed cases), and 569 were imported cases (10.6% of imported confirmed cases).
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the sequencing rates compared to confirmed cases are 5.3% in the United Kingdom, 3.9% in Japan, 0.3% in the United States, and 0.1% in Germany.
The KDCA stated, "For variant surveillance, whole genome sequencing is performed at an average rate of over 10% for imported cases, and the surveillance rate is increased according to national risk levels," adding, "Domestically, surveillance will continue focusing on cluster outbreaks to monitor variants."
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