Korea's new daily COVID-19 cases top 300,000 for 2nd day with rapid spread of Omicron

A COVID-19 patient casts a ballot for the presidential election at a polling station in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, March 9. Yonhap

Korea confirmed more than 300,000 COVID-19 cases for a second consecutive day Wednesday as the dominant Omicron variant of the coronavirus continues to spur new outbreaks nationwide.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 327,549 new infections, including 327,490 local ones, raising the total caseload to 5,539,650.

Daily infections exceeded the 300,000 mark for the first time the previous day with 342,446 cases.

The accumulated virus cases also surpassed the 5 million mark on that day, meaning one-tenth of the country's 52 million population has been infected with the virus.

The country crossed the 1 million mark early last month.

The Omicron-fueled spike in infections has recently led to more COVID-19 deaths, and severe and critical cases.

The country added 206 more deaths, raising the total to 9,646, according to the KDCA, for a fatality rate of 0.17 percent.

Severe and critical virus cases came to 1,113, up 26 from the previous day. The tally's record high was 1,151, Dec. 29. (Yonhap)