Korea's daily COVID-19 cases surpass 200,000 for 1st time as Omicron rages

Korea's daily coronavirus cases surpassed 200,000 for the first time Tuesday. Yonhap

Korea's daily COVID-19 infections surpassed 200,000 for the first time Tuesday as the highly transmissible Omicron variant continues its frenetic spread across the country.

The surge came after the government temporarily suspended the enforcement of the vaccine pass system the same day, citing the lack of staff available to handle the pandemic.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported a record high 219,241 new cases, including 219,173 local ones, raising the total caseload to 3,492,686.

The daily caseload exceeded 100,000 for the first time in mid-February.

Virus-related deaths fell to 96 from 112 a day earlier, bringing the toll to 8,266 for a fatality rate of 0.24 percent, the KDCA said.

The number of critically ill COVID-19 patients rose to 762 from 727 during the same period.

The health authorities said the current wave is expected to peak at some 250,000 daily cases in mid-March.

The government suspended its COVID-19 vaccine pass system from Tuesday for 11 types of public facilities, including restaurants, cafes, department stores, movie theaters and museums nationwide.

On Monday, Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol said the government needed to ease the pass system for certain low-risk facilities as there was a low chance of transmission if everyone was wearing masks.

Under the vaccine pass system, people are required to show proof of vaccination or a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test result to enter public facilities.

Of the locally transmitted cases, Gyeonggi Province reported 68,622 followed by Seoul with 46,932 and the western port city of Incheon with 12,104. Cases from overseas rose 68 to 29,444.

As of Wednesday, 31.51 million people, or 61.4 percent of the country's 52 million population, had received booster shots. The number of fully vaccinated people came to 44.37 million, accounting for 86.5 percent, the KDCA said.

Some 1.23 million COVID-19 vaccine doses from U.S. pharmaceutical giant Pfizer will arrive in the country Wednesday, it added. (Yonhap)

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