Korea's daily COVID-19 cases rise closer to 100,000 amid raging Omicron
Medical workers stand by to guide people as they wait for a COVID-19 test at a makeshift testing site in Seoul, Feb. 16. AP-Yonhap
Daily COVID-19 cases hit yet another high Wednesday, exceeding 90,000 for the second consecutive day, amid few signs that the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant will subside.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 93,135 new infections, including 93,045 local ones, raising the total caseload to 1,645,978.
The number of daily cases rose sharply Tuesday to surpass the 90,000 level for the first time ever, coming in at 90,443 and a massive jump from the previous day's 57,164, with the majority of infections being caused by the Omicron variant.
The daily tally has nearly doubled in a week, and more than quadrupled compared with two weeks ago.
The death toll from COVID-19 came to 7,238, up 36 from Tuesday for a fatality rate of 0.44 percent, the KDCA said.
The number of critically ill patients came to 389, up 76 from a day earlier, with the daily total staying above 300 for the fourth straight day. The authorities have warned of a possible uptick in serious cases in a couple of weeks.
Intensive care unit beds for critically ill patients were at 28.5 percent occupancy nationwide. It has been at a stable level, but concerns over a possible shortage linger as total infections keep growing at a fast pace. (Yonhap)