NEWS BRIEF

[Anchor Lead]

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) forecasts that omicron will become the dominant strain accounting for over half of all new infections by around January 21. The agency said it’s trying to slow that time through entry restrictions and containment but if quarantine measures are eased, omicron will quickly become the dominant variant leading to a spike in infections. In other countries such as the US, UK, France, Germany and Israel, omicron accounted for half of all cases in 4 to 6 weeks of its first detection. In Korea, it currently takes up 20% of positive cases 7 weeks after it was first confirmed on November 24.
The government will draw up another extra budget of 14 trillion won to provide an additional 3 million won aid package to small business owners and self-employed people whose sales are hit by pandemic restrictions. Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Friday the funds are intended to help small merchants make ends meet and provide relief in their rent and wage payments. He said the supplementary budget is solely focused on assisting small businessess affected by distancing curbs and it will be financed mostly through the issuance of deficit-covering bonds.