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| Korean citizens who were flown back home from India via a chartered flight gather in the arrival area at Incheon International Airport, Wednesday. Yonhap |
Korea reports 1st possible case of 'breakthrough infection'
By Lee Hyo-jin
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported Wednesday that tests it conducted over the past week showed that more than one out of every four COVID-19 patients was infected with a variant of the original virus.
Coronavirus variants are known to be more transmissible and virulent than the original strain, and according to the KDCA the detection rate of new strains among confirmed cases here has nearly doubled over the past two weeks, reaching 27.5 percent in the first week of May, up from 15 percent from the last week of April.
This is the highest rate of detection since the health authorities began collecting related genome sequencing data last December.
As of Tuesday, the KDCA has reported a total of 808 cumulative infections by the British, South African and Brazilian variants, which are classified as "major variants" by the health authorities. New strains originating from other countries are categorized as "other variants."
In addition, the KDCA believes that another 1,089 infections are suspected of being epidemiologically linked to the new virus strains, although they have not been subject to sequencing yet, meaning that at least 1,897 estimated cases are related to new variants.
Another 2,473 cases are estimated to be linked to the "other variants" such as those from California, India, New York, and the Philippines.
Adding to concerns is the recent increase in variant virus infections through local transmissions.
Until recently, the new strains were mainly carried into the country from overseas, and they were detected at testing sites at airports or during self-isolation periods by people arriving from overseas. But the number of local transmissions is growing, prompting concerns that the variants may have established themselves and started to spread rapidly.
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| Medical workers in protective gear guide residents at a COVID-19 testing center in Songpa District, Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap |
By region, a spike in cases of the British variant in the southern city of Ulsan has caused the health authorities to raise their alert level. The city reported 133 cases as of Tuesday, and another 368 are suspected of being epidemiologically linked.
Bucheon in Gyeonggi Province reported 22 cases of the South African variant linked to a nursing facility, with another 103 epidemiologically linked cases.
Meanwhile, the KDCA reported the first possible case of a breakthrough infection, in which a fully vaccinated individual contracts the virus.
A man in his 30s currently residing in Changwon, South Gyeongsang Province, who received two doses of the Sputnik V vaccine during his stay in Russia in April, tested positive upon arrival in Korea in early May.
The authorities said it is a suspected breakthrough infection as he tested positive more than two weeks after receiving the second dose of the vaccine, April 24. It is said the body creates full immunity two weeks after receiving the second shot.
"Although further investigation is needed, we see this case as the country's first possible breakthrough infection," said Park Young-jun, a KDCA official in charge of vaccine side effects, at a briefing Tuesday.
He added that it was difficult to confirm this due to a lack of epidemiological data on exactly when the man was exposed to the virus, and said a closer review is needed as Sputnik V is a type of vaccine not administered in Korea.
