SEOUL: South Korea will distribute free coronavirus rapid test kits at schools and senior care facilities starting next week as it weathers an unprecedented wave of infections driven by the fast-moving omicron variant.
Health officials on Wednesday reported its highest daily jump in coronavirus infections with 90,443 new cases, shattering the previous one-day record set on Tuesday by more than 33,000 cases. The figure represents more than a 20-fold increase from the levels seen in mid-January, when omicron emerged as the country’s dominant strain, and some experts say the country could see daily cases of around 200,000 in March.
While experts say omicron appears less likely to cause serious illness or death compared to the delta variant, which rattled the country in December and early January, hospitalizations have been creeping up amid the greater scale of outbreak.
Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum, Seoul’s No. 2 official behind President Moon Jae-in, said officials will start distributing free rapid test kits next week at kindergartens, elementary schools and senior care facilities, including nursing homes and neighborhood welfare centers, to strengthen protection for unvaccinated children and high-risk groups.
Education Minister Yoo Eun-hye said schools will be getting enough kits for students to use twice a week, but added that such tests won’t be mandatory.
“We ask for students to be tested at home with the rapid antigen test kits on the evenings of Sunday and Wednesday before coming to school,” Yoo said during a briefing. “When testing positive from those tests, please visit the local health office to get PCR (lab) tests.”
Health workers have diagnosed a daily average of 60,230 new coronavirus cases in the past seven days, which translates to 116.64 infections per 100,000 people, as the national caseload grew over 1.55 million.
The fast-developing omicron surge has left officials debating whether the country should maintain strict social distancing rules, including a six-person limit on private social gatherings and a 9 p.m. curfew for restaurants.
Struggling business owners have called for the measures to be removed, questioning whether they are meaningful when cases are growing rapidly.
But health experts warn that easing social distancing may allow transmissions to veer further out of control, which would further stretch worn-out health and government workers and threaten high-risk groups and children younger than 12 who have yet to be vaccinated.
The country has already eased quarantine restrictions significantly starting this month to prevent major disruptions at workplaces and essential services, which may occur if huge numbers of people are constantly forced into isolation.
There are also concerns that transmissions could worsen as campaigning and political rallies began on Tuesday ahead of the March 9 presidential elections.
Prime Minister Kim said officials will consider both the pandemic’s growing economic strain and threats posed by the omicron surge before announcing new social distancing measures on Friday.
While omicron more easily infects those who have been vaccinated or had COVID-19 previously, experts say vaccination and booster shots still provide strong protection from serious illness and death.
More than 86 percent of South Koreans have been fully vaccinated and 58 percent have received booster shots. Health officials plan to offer fourth vaccination shots at nursing homes and other long-term care settings starting later this month.
The country also started offering Novavax’s coronavirus vaccine at hospitals and public health offices this week, adding another tool in a mass immunization campaign that has mainly depended on Pfizer and Moderna’s mRNA vaccines.
Officials hope that the Maryland company’s protein vaccine, which is similar to shots used for years against the common flu or hepatitis B, would appeal to people who have been hesitant to use other vaccines based on newer technologies.
South Korea to give out rapid tests as omicron shatters record
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South Korea to give out rapid tests as omicron shatters record
- Health workers have diagnosed a daily average of 60,230 new coronavirus cases in the past seven days
- The fast-developing omicron surge has left officials debating whether the country should maintain strict social distancing rules
Sweden unveils new prison conditions for teens
- The loosely-formed networks have increasingly recruited under-15s, often online, as highly-paid hitmen
- Eight existing prisons have been tasked with preparing special sections for children
STOCKHOLM: Sweden on Thursday revealed prison conditions that teens as young as 13 will face if convicted of a serious criminal offense, once a much-criticized juvenile judicial reform takes effect in July.
The minority rightwing government, which is backed by the far-right Sweden Democrats and has prioritized the fight against surging crime rates, announced in January that it would reduce the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 13.
A majority of the 126 authorities the government consulted about the change were critical or opposed it outright, including the police and the prison service, but the government has moved forward with its plans regardless.
The Scandinavian country has struggled for more than a decade to contain a surge in organized violent crime, linked primarily to settlings of scores between rival gangs and battles to control the drug market.
The loosely-formed networks have increasingly recruited under-15s, often online, as highly-paid hitmen to carry out bombings and shootings, knowing they would not face prison time if caught.
Eight existing prisons have been tasked with preparing special sections for children, with three of them due to open by July 1 when the reform is scheduled to enter into force, the government said Thursday.
The children will be kept separated from adult inmates, and will be locked in their cells for 11 hours at night instead of the 14 hours for adults, Justice Minister Gunnar Strommer told a press conference.
In addition to attending school lessons during the day, the children will have their own cafeteria, recreation yard, gym and infirmary.
Currently, most minors found guilty of serious crimes are not sentenced to prison.
They are usually ordered into closed detention facilities, called SIS homes, tasked with mandatory care and rehabilitation, rather than a punitive system like prison.
However, many SIS homes have in recent years become recruiting bases for the criminal networks.
- ‘Counter-productive’ -
“Society and crime have changed fundamentally,” Strommer said.
“Young people in general commit fewer crimes. But those who do commit more and much more serious crimes,” he said, adding that “it is much more common for youths to use weapons and explosives.”
He said Sweden was facing “an emergency situation with the gangs, the shootings and explosions with 15, 16 or 17-year-old kids convicted of murder or involvement in murder plots.”
“But there are even younger children involved... For a long time, we have done far too little to address this development, and the system simply hasn’t kept up.”
Children’s rights association Bris said the government’s reform was “counter-productive, insufficiently researched and violates children’s rights.”
It warned that locking such young children away in prison would lead to increased recidivism and encourage criminal networks to recruit ever younger children.
The union representing social workers and prison and SIS home employees, Akademikerförbundet SSR, was also critical, lamenting the speed at which the reform was being pushed through.
“We are very concerned that the Swedish Prison and Probation Service will not have time to build up staff expertise in working with children and to establish a high-quality school,” union expert Fredrik Hjulstrom said.
“The staff of the Prison and Probation Service are qualified to work with adults, and a completely different set of skills is required to succeed with children.”
The reform is being introduced temporarily, limited to five years to start with.
The government is currently trying to rapidly push through a slew of reforms in various areas, ahead of legislative elections in September.
