Situation Report of MPOX in Global and ASEAN Region - 24 Augustus 2023

Global Updates

• Worldwide, over 694 million cases and over 6 million deaths have been attributed to COVID-19.

• Republic of Korea: Korea's Health Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) has downgraded the COVID-19 infection classification level to Class 4, allowing the government to focus on protecting high-risk groups like the elderly (Ji-Hye, 2023). The decision means that the government will manage the infectious disease, lift antivirus curbs, and stop counting daily new cases. The daily average for new infections for the week began Aug. 15 was 40,355, down 17.7% from 49,012 the previous week. The weekly death toll also decreased by 11% to 130. The KDCA will monitor the virus situation weekly. Protecting high-risk groups, such as young children, the elderly, and patients with compromised immune systems, will remain important. The government will maintain COVID-19's national crisis level at the current "alert" in a four-tier system, including attention, caution, alert, and serious. The government will maintain indoor mask rules at general hospitals and nursing facilities for the elderly and provide part of state supports for medical costs. Additionally, the government will continue to offer vaccines and medicine for free to minimize medical expense burdens on the public.