COVID-19 Surge Decreases for 2 Consecutive Weeks... "Peak Passed This Summer"

The health authorities announced that the decline in the COVID-19 outbreak this summer has continued for two consecutive weeks, indicating that the peak has likely passed.

On the 6th, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) stated that this judgment was made after analyzing the outbreak trends through a multi-layered surveillance system, including sample surveillance of hospitalized COVID-19 patients, pathogen surveillance, and monitoring of emergency room visits.

The KDCA is conducting sample surveillance of hospitalized COVID-19 patients at 220 hospital-level medical institutions nationwide and identifying hospitalized COVID-19 patients through sample surveillance of severe acute respiratory infections at 42 general hospital-level medical institutions.

The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients under sample surveillance increased from July until mid-last month but decreased for two consecutive weeks during the last week of August, from the 25th to the 31st. The number of patients in the last week of August was 837, a 42.8% decrease compared to the peak of 1,464 patients during the week of August 11-17.

In the sample surveillance of severe acute respiratory infections, the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients peaked at 83 during the week of August 4-10, then decreased for two consecutive weeks, but increased by 6.5% to 49 patients in the last week.

The COVID-19 pathogen detection rate in the last week of August was 34.0%, down 5.0 percentage points from the previous week, confirming a decline for two consecutive weeks.

The number of COVID-19 patients visiting emergency rooms also increased from July but decreased for two consecutive weeks starting from the 18th of last month. Last week, the number of COVID-19 patients visiting emergency rooms was 5,048, significantly down from 8,221 the previous week.

Ji Young-mi, director of the KDCA, said, "Based on the analysis of the multi-layered surveillance system on COVID-19 outbreak trends, it is judged that the COVID-19 outbreak this summer has passed its peak," adding, "This is thanks to the public’s adherence to infection prevention rules such as handwashing and cough etiquette."

However, she urged caution as the COVID-19 outbreak could increase again during the Chuseok holiday. Director Ji emphasized, "During the Chuseok holiday, when population movement increases due to visits to hometown parents and contact with the elderly is expected, please follow COVID-19 infection prevention guidelines," and added, "High-risk groups, including the elderly, are encouraged to participate in the COVID-19 vaccination scheduled for October."