South Korea could be back on virus watch as the fast-spreading BA.5 subvariant is on course to become the dominant Covid-19 virus, with the country’s new coronavirus cases hitting 40,000 for the first time in two months on Wednesday.

The resurgence led by the new omicron subvariant started earlier than expected and BA.5 may soon replace the current dominant species BA.2.3, according to the Central Disease Control Headquarters.

Experts said the BA.5 subvariant is known to be the most contagious virus in human history, and it is better able to escape immunity to raise alarm about another wave of massive infections.

BA.5 is more than 30 percent stronger than BA.2 in epidemic transmission, said Jung Ki-suck, Professor of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine in Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital.

The domestic detection rate of BA.5 stands at 23.7 percent, up from 7.5 percent in the fourth week of June and from 2.0 percent in the third week of the month. If the current trend is maintained, there could be up to 200,000 confirmed cases per day between mid-August and the end of September, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

Lim Sook-young, a senior KDCA official, told a news briefing that the BA.5 dominance will continue to increase with growing cases among overseas travelers.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo announced that the government will review social distancing rules in a selective and gradual basis upon grave development. As part of antivirus measures, the government decided to maintain a seven-day mandatory quarantine for people infected with the virus, but social distancing rules were not included.

By Han Jae-beom, Kim Dae-gi and Minu Kim

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