In China, signs of a resurgence of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) are emerging. The positivity rate has risen by nearly 10 percentage points in a month, with the main circulating variant identified as the Omicron variant.
On the 12th, Caixin cited an announcement from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), reporting that the nationwide positivity rate for influenza-like illness cases reached 18.7% in the 30th week (July 22?28), rising by nearly 10 percentage points compared to the 27th week (July 1?7, 8.9%).
From July 1 to 31, there were no deaths nationwide due to respiratory failure caused by COVID-19 infection; however, two deaths occurred due to underlying diseases combined with COVID-19 infection. During this period, the number of new severe cases nationwide reached 203, and the number of visits to fever clinics nationwide slightly decreased from 125,000 on July 1 to 92,000 on July 31.
However, compared to the resurgence in March, the situation is not yet concerning. Caixin explained, "In March, the number of visits to fever clinics nationwide fluctuated around 160,000, and the positivity rate for influenza-like illness cases peaked at 21.1%."
According to the Guangdong Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 18,384 COVID-19 cases were reported in Guangdong Province last month, an increase of 10,000 from 8,246 cases in June. However, this is still a low level compared to the past few months. During the resurgence period from March to May this year, infection cases were reported as 58,989, 40,898, and 23,121, respectively.
The main circulating variant remains the Omicron variant. According to the CDC report, a total of 7,042 local infection cases were reported across China in July, all confirmed to be the Omicron variant. The main circulating strains were described as the JN.1 variant, which was prevalent in the first half of this year, and the XDV series variants, which are subversions of JN.1. Chinese authorities divided the COVID-19 JN.1 variant into 47 subvariants, including XDV, in April. Compared to the JN.1 variant, the XDV variant shows no significant changes in transmissibility, pathogenicity, or immune evasion ability.
Recently, in South Korea, COVID-19 cases have surged rapidly, marking the start of a new resurgence. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency's sample surveillance of 220 hospital-level medical institutions, the number of COVID-19 hospitalized patients 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 seen during the resurgence in February.
Accordingly, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency has upgraded the head of the COVID-19 response team from a director-level to the agency head and significantly expanded the response personnel from "1 division, 2 teams (total 18 members)" to "1 division, 5 groups, 12 teams (total 71 members)." 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.
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