Daily infections top 260,000 for 1st time amid Omicron's spread

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

Korea's daily COVID-19 infections exceeded 260,000 for the first time Thursday as the highly transmissible Omicron variant continues to rage across the country.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 266,853 cases, including 266,771 local ones, raising the total caseload to 3,691,488. Daily infections jumped from 198,803 cases Wednesday.

The daily caseload surpassed 200,000 for the first time Tuesday, the day the government suspended the enforcement of the vaccine pass system over the lack of staff to handle the pandemic.

Daily cases exceeded 100,000 for the first time in mid-February.

Virus-related deaths rose to 186 from 128 a day earlier, bringing the toll to 8,580 for a fatality rate of 0.22 percent, the KDCA said.

The number of critically ill COVID-19 patients rose to 797 from 766 during the same period.

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The health authorities expected the current wave to peak at some 250,000 daily cases in mid-March but the daily cases have already exceeded the projected figure.

The spike came after the government suspended the 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 vaccine pass system for certain low-risk facilities as there was a low chance of transmission if everyone wore masks.

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

On Friday, the government took another step to help small businesses suffering from prolonged anti-virus restrictions.

Despite soaring infections, the government decided to extend the operating hours for 12 kinds of multiuse facilities by an hour to 11 p.m. from March 5 to 20. The current six-person cap on private gatherings will remain in place.

The hospital bed occupancy rate for seriously ill COVID-19 patients surpassed 50 percent this week, but key indicators such as the fatality rate and the rate of patients in critical condition remained manageable within the country's medical response capacity.

Of the locally transmitted cases reported, Gyeonggi Province reported 76,722 infections; Seoul had 59,269; and the western port city of Incheon, 16,681. Cases from overseas rose by 82 to a cumulative 29,579.

As of Friday, 31.64 million people, or 61.7 percent of the country's 52 million population, had received booster shots. The number of fully vaccinated people came to 44.38 million, accounting for 86.5 percent, the KDCA said. (Yonhap)

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