Korea's new COVID-19 cases soar to all-time high of over 50,000

Commuters wearing face masks wait for their trains at a subway station in Seoul, Feb. 9. AP-Yonhap

Daily COVID-19 infections rose sharply to hit another high of over 50,000, Wednesday, amid the fast spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant across the country.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 54,122 new cases, including 54,034 local ones, raising the total to 1,185,361.

This was the first time the daily total exceeded 50,000 ― the previous daily record high was 49,567 recorded for Tuesday.

The daily caseload surged to over 30,000 for the first time Saturday, just three days after breaking the 20,000 mark, and stayed between 30,000 and 40,000 for four days in a row.

New infections have nearly quadrupled over the past two weeks due to the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, which accounted for more than 92 percent of cases reported last week.

The health authorities have warned that the figure could reach 170,000 by around the end of the month, though it is too early to say if this will be the peak of the Omicron surge.

The death toll from COVID-19 came to 6,963, up 20 from Tuesday for a fatality rate of 0.59 percent, the KDCA said. (Yonhap)