RESURGENCE IN COVID-19 CASES

[Anchor Lead]

The number of new COVID-19 cases in Korea approached 20,000 for the fourth straight day, as of midnight of Friday. Some projected that the daily number of cases could surpass 100,000 as early as in mid-August. The fast-spreading BA.5 lineage of the omicron variant may become the cause of a resurgence.

[Pkg]

Omicron variant was detected in 100%of recent COVID-19 cases. The detection rates of the omicron variant's BA.5 lineage have been steadily rising - 24.1% of local cases and 49.2% of imported ones.

[Soundbite] Lim Suk-young(Central Disease Control HQs) : "The BA.5 has already become the dominant variant among imported cases. The number of local cases will soar by next week. We believe the variant tends to bypass the immune system."

The BA.5 subvariant can bypass the immunity generated by COVID-19 vaccines or natural infection. Once it becomes the dominant variant, reinfections and breakthrough infections could occur. KDCA predicted back in May that roughly 9,000 new cases would occur daily by the end of July. But the number of new cases already approaches 20,000 in early July, doubling the projected figure. The transmission speed of BA.5 is cited as the biggest factor in future surges. With the spread of the sub-variant, experts project the daily virus tally could reach up to 200,000 by as early as mid-August. It's not as high as some 600,000 cases reported back in March at the height of the omicron surge, but it is still an alarming development.

[Soundbite] Prof. Lee Jae-gab(Hallym Univ. Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital) : "Vaccine effects are diminishing among people with declined immunity or chronic diseases. If cases occur among those people, there could be more patients than we predicted."

However, authorities say that judging from the overseas situation concerning the spread of BA.5, rises in critical cases and deaths aren't that obvious, so they are not considering taking tougher control measures for now.