SEOUL, August 23 (AJU PRESS) - A recent wave of COVID-19 cases has led to a rise in hospitalizations during the third week of August, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KCDA) said Friday.
From Aug. 11 to 17, the number of COVID-related hospitalizations surged nearly fourfold, with the number of patients rising from around 465 to 1,464 in just a few weeks.
Patients with COVID-19 now account for 70.3 percent of all respiratory disease cases, up from 32.4 percent in July.
The KCDA attributed the surge to the KP.3 variant, which has rapidly spread since July. The detection rate of JN.1, the dominant variant earlier this year, dropped from 59.3 percent in June to 19.5 percent in July, while KP.3's rate increased from 12.1 percent to 39.8 percent.
According to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), KP.3 has similar severity and fatality rates to other variants but is more adept at evading immunity. This means that even those previously infected or vaccinated might still be vulnerable.
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