Coronavirus: South Korea sees record daily cases; Olympics updates ‘deliberately omitted’ Lambda variant
- South Korea is seeing a rise in ‘silent spreaders’ within communities such as workplaces, churches and nursing homes, the health minister said
- Meanwhile, Japanese officials omitted mentions of the Lambda variant from Olympics updates, a report says
Despite having tough distancing measures in place for over a month, infections have spiked from the spread of the Delta variant and a rise in domestic travel over summer, Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol told a pandemic response meeting.
He also noted a rise in so-called “silent spreaders” within communities such as workplaces, indoor gyms, churches and nursing homes, leading to an increase in infections of unknown origin.
South Korea has since July been struggling to tame sporadic outbreaks of Covid-19 that were at first centred largely on metropolitan Seoul but have since spread nationwide.
Nearly half of new cases detected recently have been found outside Seoul and in summer holiday spots, while authorities are concerned many people are ignoring social distancing rules.
Kwon strongly urged people who return from holidays to voluntarily get tested before going back to work.
Officials reported 2,223 new coronavirus cases for Tuesday, bringing South Korea’s total caseload to 216,206, with 2,135 deaths.
Only 15.7 per cent of the country’s 52 million people have been fully vaccinated, while 42.1 per cent have received at least one dose. The government’s target is for 70 per cent to have received at least one shot by September.
