KDCA Expands COVID-19 Task Force Operations "Full Effort in Epidemic Management"

The quarantine authorities are expanding the COVID-19 task force to fully respond to the summer surge of COVID-19.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) announced on the 12th that it will expand the COVID-19 task force from one division with two teams to one division with five departments and eleven teams, including the Situation Response Department and Situation General Department, to more thoroughly investigate and analyze the outbreak situation, conduct overseas surveillance, and manage the supply of therapeutics.

The head of the task force will also be changed from the Director of the Infectious Disease Crisis Management Bureau to the Commissioner of the KDCA to focus on faster response.

According to sample surveillance of 220 hospital-level medical institutions by the KDCA, the number of COVID-19 inpatients this year had been decreasing since the first week of February (875 patients) but began to increase from the end of June and has continued to rise. In the first week of this month, 861 cases were reported, reaching the level of February.

Considering the COVID-19 trend over the past two years, the KDCA expects the number of patients to increase until the end of this month and is focusing on outbreak management.

Commissioner Ji said, "COVID-19 inpatients are increasing this summer, and currently, 65% of patients are elderly aged 65 or older, so we cannot afford to let our guard down. To have a healthy and safe summer, it is most important to follow infectious disease prevention guidelines such as indoor ventilation, hand washing, and wearing masks."

However, the severity and fatality rate of the KP.3 variant, a descendant of the currently circulating Omicron variant, are reported to be not significantly high.

Commissioner Ji added, "According to analyses by domestic and international institutions on KP.3, the severity and fatality rate are evaluated to be not significantly different from previous Omicron variants. The domestic COVID-19 fatality rate in 2022-2023, after the Omicron surge, is about 0.1%, and especially for those under 50 years old, it is below 0.01%, so there is no need to be overly anxious about this summer's outbreak."