South Korea announced today that it is abandoning its health policy based on the "Track contacts, test and treat" principle.

This is happening at a time when a new jump in the number of those infected with Omicron threatens to overload its health care system, reports BTA.

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Omicron - the new coronavirus variant 658

At the start of the pandemic, in 2020, South Korea was hit by an epidemic that was among the worst outside of China, and managed to control it through mass testing and active tracking of contacts.

South Korea has reported a record number of coronavirus infections

Following the strategy has garnered much praise from the country, but Seoul has decided to turn its back on it after reporting more than a million people infected over the weekend over the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.

The "Track contacts, test and treat" approach is "difficult to implement due to limited resources" and "extremely high social and economic cost", said Son Yun-nae, a senior health official.

Yesterday, South Korea set a record of 49,567 new cases per day, and health officials predict that the figure will reach 170,000 in February. A new package of anti-virus measures is gradually coming into force this month - resources will be focused on the most vulnerable , health officials said.

The goal is to diagnose and treat high-risk groups so that the health care system does not collapse and the social and economic functions of the authorities do not collapse, Son added.

Priority will be given to people aged 60 and over.

Earlier, all of them were sent to a government center for treatment and quarantine with a positive result, but patients without symptoms will be advised to stay at home in the future.

About 85 percent of the country's 52 million people have received two doses of the vaccine, according to the Korean Disease Control and Prevention Service.

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Omicron - the new coronavirus variant

South Korea

Omicron - the new coronavirus variant