New COVID-19 cases bounce back to nearly 350,000 amid 'stealth Omicron' woes
People wait in line to take a COVID-19 test at a makeshift testing center in front of Seoul Station, March 29. Yonhap
Korea's new daily COVID-19 cases rose to around 350,000, Monday, ending a downturn of five consecutive days, amid the fast spread of the highly transmissible "stealth Omicron" subvariant.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 347,554 infections, including 41 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 12,350,428.
Monday's tally marked a surge from 187,213 cases the previous day, when the daily count came to a nearly one-month low. The daily caseload had been on a constant slide from Wednesday through Sunday.
The country added 237 new COVID-19 deaths, up 50 from the previous day, for a fatality rate of 0.12 percent.
The number of critically ill patients came to 1,215, down 58 from Monday, the KDCA said.
Serious cases rose to above 1,000 earlier this month and have since been above that level. The KDCA said the number of deaths and serious cases could grow further in the coming weeks.
The health authorities have said that the Omicron-driven virus wave peaked last week, and new infections are forecast to fall below 300,000 on average in two weeks, though the possibility of an upturn remains over the spread of the even more transmissible stealth subvariant.
The BA.2 subvariant has become the dominant strain in the country, accounting for 56.3 percent of total infections last week, according to the KDCA.
The rate has been on the rise from 22.9 percent in the first week of this month to 26.3 percent in the second week and 41.4 percent the following week, it added.
As of Tuesday, 32.67 million people out of the total population, or 63.7 percent, had received booster shots. The number of fully vaccinated people came to 44.48 million, representing 86.7 percent, the KDCA said.
The government has called on people, particularly those aged 60 or older, to get booster shots, as the proportion of infections in the age group has risen recently to stay above 20 percent.
Later this week, the government is expected to announce a decision on whether to further relax antivirus curbs, as the current restrictions, including the eight-person cap on private gatherings and the 11 p.m. business curfew, are supposed to expire Sunday.
The government has relaxed some social distancing rules in efforts to regain normalcy and support small businesses and self-employed people hit hard by the pandemic. (Yonhap)