I thought it was all over now... COVID-19, with a frightening surge, is 're-spreading'.

The novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), which I thought had ended, is spreading rapidly.

It is known that a new Omicron variant is leading a resurgence, but its transmissibility and severity are still shrouded in mystery.

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on the 6th, the number of new COVID-19 hospitalizations nationwide at 220 hospital-level sentinel surveillance institutions with over 200 beds was 91 in the first week of July, 148 in the second week, 225 in the third week, and 465 in the fourth week, showing a 5.1-fold increase over the past four weeks.

The detection rate of COVID-19 pathogens increased from 11.6% in the first week of July to 29.2% in the fourth week of July, a surge of 17.6 percentage points during the same period. The average detection rate for July was 20.3%, more than tripling the 6.4% rate in June.

Recently, the detection rate of the Omicron variant KP.3, which is driving the domestic COVID-19 outbreak, increased significantly from 12.1% in June to 39.8% in July.

As the number of COVID-19 patients increases, sales of 'self-diagnosis kits' are also rapidly rising.

According to the CareInsight statistics for pharmacy on-site data analysis service, the sales of COVID-19 self-diagnosis kits increased by 43.8% from the previous week during the period from July 21 to July 27.

Prices are also noticeably increasing. The price of test kits, which had dropped to around 1,000 won after the endemics declaration, has recently risen to around 3,000 won. Some pharmacies are experiencing stock shortages.

The demand for COVID-19 treatments is also increasing. It is reported that health centers and pharmacies are requesting pharmaceutical companies to supply COVID-19 treatments.

There is already growing concern about what situation might unfold regarding the resurgence of COVID-19 after the holiday season ends.

<Source: Segye Ilbo>