Korea's daily COVID-19 cases exceed 200,000 for 4th day

People wait in line for COVID-19 tests at a pop-up screening clinic in front of Seoul Station, March 6. Yonhap

South Korea's daily COVID-19 cases stayed above 200,000 for the fourth consecutive day Sunday as the highly contagious Omicron variant continued to fuel a surge in infections.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 210,716 new cases, including 210,628 local ones, raising the total caseload to 4,666,977.

The daily tally has been declining since peaking at a record-high of 266,850 cases Thursday. The daily caseload surpassed 200,000 for the first time Wednesday since the country reported its first infection in January 2020.

The Omicron variant has caused an unprecedented spike in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks. The total passed four million Saturday, just five days after reaching the three million mark. The country crossed the one million mark early last month, the KDCA said.

While Omicron causes less severe symptoms than the Delta variant, the sheer size of the surge has escalated COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations.

The country added 139 more deaths, bringing the toll to 9,096 for a fatality rate of 0.19 percent.

Critical cases rose to 955, up 70 from the previous day. (Yonhap)