Delta variant dominant strain of COVID-19 in Korea

The Delta variant, which was first detected in India, has become the dominant strain of COVID-19 in Korea, causing the fourth wave COVID-19 in the country.

“The Delta variant now accounts for at least half of new COVID-19 cases, leading the spread of COVID-19 in the country,” Kwon Joon-wook of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters said during a briefing on Monday. “The Delta variant will soon be most of the infections.” According to the announcement made by the agency the previous day, the Delta variant was detected in 48 percent of the confirmed cases in the past week (July 18-24), surpassing the detection rate of other strains and non-variant COVID-19 cases. Considering that it takes one to two weeks for testing and analysis, the Delta variant is likely to reach over 50 percent of new infections.

The Delta variant is accountable for the rapid fourth wave in the country. Concerns for nationwide spread of fourth wave are rising as fast spread of COVID-19 is deterring the efforts to contain the spread of virus. The country had 1,318 new confirmed cases as of Monday at 00:00. The number of confirmed cases in non-capital areas was 535 (40.6%), the highest since the beginning of the fourth wave. Gimhae in South Gyeongsang Province has become the fourth city in non-capital areas to raise its social distancing measures to Level 4 from Tuesday as it saw new cases spike in the city.


Gun-Hee Cho becom@donga.com