The quarantine authorities are paying attention to the recent reports of COVID-19 mutant virus not only in the UK but also in South Africa. There has not been a mutant virus in Korea yet, but first of all, the quarantine authorities are checking whether the mutant virus has been confirmed for 7 people who have been confirmed to have entered South Africa since last October.
Reporter Hwa Kang-yoon reports.
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The mutant virus reported in South Africa has been pointed out as a major virus in the second epidemic of Corona 19 in South Africa.
This mutation is expected to affect the infectivity and immune response of the Corona 19 virus.
Although mutant viruses have not yet been confirmed in Korea, the problem is that there are 7 confirmed cases among those who have entered Korea from South Africa since last October.
The quarantine authorities are checking for mutant viruses by analyzing the genome of these samples.
[정은경/질병관리청장 : 스파이크 단백질에 대한 변이 부분이고, (영국과 남아공 사례) 두 가지가 조금 다른 변이를 보고하고 있는 상황이긴 한데요. 전염력이 높아졌다는 그런 역학자료와 모델링 자료를 근거로….]
The quarantine authorities also decided to preemptively strengthen quarantine measures for immigrants from South Africa.
About 500 people came from South Africa in total since October, and 191 people came in only in December.
Those arriving from South Africa, like other foreign residents, are required to undergo diagnostic tests and quarantine for two weeks, as well as undergo additional tests prior to completion of quarantine.
(Video coverage: Kim Min-cheol, Video editing: Park Ji-in)
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