South Korea reimposes restrictions amidst dramatic surge in COVID-19 cases

In its latest attempt to curtail spre of coronavirus, South Korea has reimposed restrictions that it previously lifted under its ‘living with COVID’ scheme. Starting Saturday, December 18, number of people allowed at public garings will shrink to four. Or rules include a 9 pm curfew imposed on restaurants, eateries and cafes. Notably, new restrictions were announced by Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum on Thursday as healthcare workers warned of mayhem at hospitals.

“We’re making all-out efforts to overcome pressing crisis by expanding our medical capacity and vaccination campaign, but we need time,” Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said at a government meeting on Thursday. “We can go beyond this crisis only by beating down current spre as soon as possible through strong social distancing,” he ded.

According to latest tally by worldometers, South Korea has reported a total of 558,864 cases with 4,644 fatalities as of now. Meanwhile, country’s Ministry of Health and Welfare reported 53 daily death and 1,016 daily hospitalizations with moderate to severe symptoms on Saturday. It also said a total of 7,314 new daily cases were reported. 

Graphic: Worldometers

According to Guardian, newly imposed restrictions also require everybody planning to attend public garings to get fully vaccinated. All those non- vaccinated would only be allowed to dine out alone. country has reported five Omicron cases as of now- all travellers returning from Nigeria. 

Molecular diagnostics technology for better detection

Meanwhile, researchers in country have developed a molecular diagnostics technology that can detect new strain within minutes. According to ANI, POSTECH announced that a research team led by Professor Lee Jung-wook of Department of Chemical Engineering developed molecular diagnostic technology that can detect Omicron variant in just 20-30 minutes. development has been completed and it is now expected to be commercialised. 

According to POSTECH, new technology can now distinguish mutations at single-nucleotide base, refore, it can detect 'Stealth Omicron', which is difficult to detect by PCR tests. South Korean researchers said that molecular diagnostic technology is not a sequencing method that res DNA or RNA sequences.

(With inputs from agencies)

(Image: Pixabay)