SEOUL (REUTERS, XINHUA) - South Korea authorised for emergency use Pfizer’s antiviral pills targeting Covid-19 as the first of its kind to be introduced in South Korea, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said on Monday (Dec 27).

South Korea restored tough distancing curbs last week after easing them in November, after a series of record daily new infections and serious cases stretched medical services, despite a vaccination rate of over 92 per cent for those aged 18 or older.

Pfizer’s oral antiviral treatment, called Paxlovid, is “expected to help prevent serious deterioration of patients admitted to residential treatment centres or being treated at home”, by diversifying coronavirus treatments beyond injections currently used in the field, drug safety minister Kim Gang-lip told a press briefing.

The drug will be used for adults or children 12 years or older weighing over 40kg with mild to moderate symptoms with a high risk of developing a severe case of coronavirus due to causes such as underlying diseases.

Another oral coronavirus treatment called molnupiravir, developed by Merck known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, applied for emergency use earlier this month, but the ministry is still reviewing as they need additional info on efficacy, Kim said.

South Korea reported 4,207 more cases of Covid-19 as at midnight on Sunday compared with 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 611,670.

The daily caseload was sharply down from 5,419 in the previous day owing to fewer virus tests over the weekend, falling below 5,000 in 20 days since Dec 7.

The recent resurgence was attributable to small cluster infections in the Seoul metropolitan area.

Of the new cases, 1,466 were Seoul residents. The number of newly infected people living in Gyeonggi province and the western port city of Incheon was 1,160 and 227 respectively.

The virus spread also raged in the non-metropolitan region. The number of new infections in the non-capital areas was 1,272, or 30.8 per cent of the total local transmission.

The number of the Omicron variant infections was 445, including 181 imported cases and 264 local transmissions, up 69 from the previous day.

Eighty-two cases were imported from overseas, lifting the combined figure to 16,907.

Fifty-five more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 5,300.

The country has fully inoculated 82.4 per cent of the population.

The number of those who received booster shots stood at 29.6 per cent of the population.