SEOUL, March 24 (Yonhap) — South Korea reported nearly 400,000 additional cases of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) and a record number of deaths on Thursday as the Omicron variant plagues the country. The virus has so far affected nearly 20% of the 52 million inhabitants.
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The country reported 395,598 new Covid-19 infections, bringing the total to 10,822,836, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.
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While Thursday’s tally fell sharply from yesterday’s 490,881, the second-highest figure since the outbreak began, the number of deaths reached a new record of 470, bringing the total to 13,902. The fatality rate stood at 0.13 percent, the KDCA said.
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The total of critically ill patients stood at 1,081, down three from the previous day.
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South Korea is experiencing its worst epidemic wave as the cumulative cases of contamination exceeded the milestone of 10 million earlier this week. Nearly 9 million cases have been reported since the beginning of last month. The daily toll jumped to a record 621,205 last Thursday.
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The spread of the virus is likely to continue apace amid relaxed social distancing rules. Earlier this week, the government eased virus restrictions in a bid to support businesses and the service sector hit hard by the pandemic.
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Health authorities have warned the ‘stealth Omicron’ mutant could lead to another jump in infections despite an earlier estimate that the current surge could peak this week. The subvariant is known to be more transmissible than the Omicron variant.
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Against the backdrop of the rapid spread of the virus among children, the government will launch a vaccination campaign for 5-11 year olds. Parents can make an appointment for the inoculation from this Thursday and the vaccination will start next Thursday nationwide.
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In addition, 44,000 more doses of Pfizer’s antiviral pill, Paxlovid, will arrive in the country tomorrow morning. The drug has been administered to around 100,000 patients so far.
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MSD’s Lagevrio, the second oral pill that will be used to treat Covid-19 in South Korea, will start being given to patients from this Saturday.
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The hospital bed occupancy rate for critically ill patients stood at 64.6% on Thursday. The rate remains manageable within the limits of the country’s medical response capacities.
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The number of people receiving treatment at home stood at 1,873,582 on Wednesday, up 408,031 from the previous day, the KDCA said.
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Among local cases, Seoul reported 77,768 new infections and surrounding Gyeonggi Province reported 107,472. The western port city of Incheon has reported 24,689 cases.
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So far, 32.48 million of the country’s 52 million people, or 63.3%, have received a booster dose. The number of fully immunized people stood at 44.46 million, or 86.6% of the population.
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