New daily cases hit new high of 5,352; 3 additional Omicron cases reported
An employee attaches a notice to the entrance of a Chinese restaurant in Seoul, Dec. 3, that says a customer is required to show proof of vaccination or a negative test for entry and that gatherings are limited to six people starting Dec. 6. Yonhap
Daily new COVID-19 infections recorded an all-time high of 5,352 for Friday, the same day the government announced new restrictions for four weeks to control the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
New cases of critically ill patients and deaths also hit record highs while an additional three confirmed cases of the Omicron variant were reported to bring the total cases in the country to nine.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported the daily new cases included 5,327 local ones, raising the total caseload to 467,907.
Friday's infections mark the highest number since the country reported its first COVID-19 case in January 2020 and exceeds the previous record of 5,226 reported Wednesday.
The number of critically ill patients came to 752, up 16 from 736, while the death toll came to 3,809, up 70 from a day earlier for a fatality rate of 0.81 percent.
Of the locally transmitted cases, Seoul reported 2,268 new cases, and the surrounding Gyeonggi Province posted 1,671.
The number of cases from overseas came to 25, raising the total to 15,842. (Yonhap)