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

In its latest attempt to curtail the spread of coronavirus, South Korea has reimposed restrictions that it previously lifted under its ‘living with COVID’ scheme. Starting Saturday, December 18, the number of people allowed at public gatherings will shrink to four. Other rules include a 9 pm curfew imposed on restaurants, eateries and cafes. Notably, the 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 the 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 the current spread as soon as possible through strong social distancing,” he added.

According to the latest tally by worldometers, South Korea has reported a total of 558,864 cases with 4,644 fatalities as of now. Meanwhile, the 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 The Guardian, the newly imposed restrictions also require everybody planning to attend public gatherings to get fully vaccinated. All those non- vaccinated would only be allowed to dine out alone. The country has reported five Omicron cases as of now- all travellers returning from Nigeria. 

Molecular diagnostics technology for better detection

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

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

(With inputs from agencies)

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