SEOUL, March 6 (Yonhap) — Daily cases of the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in South Korea remained above 240,000 for the third consecutive day on Sunday amid the rapid spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant.
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The country reported 243,628 new Covid-19 infections, including 243,540 local ones, bringing the toll to 4,456,264, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
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The daily tally rose from 254,327 cases on Saturday to a record 266,853 on Friday. Daily infections topped 200,000 for the first time on Wednesday since the country reported the first infection in January 2020.
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The total number of transmissions topped 4 million on Saturday, just five days after hitting the 3 million mark. The million mark was passed earlier this month, the KDCA said.
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The surge in infections has increased the number of Covid-19 deaths and seriously ill patients. The country added 161 more deaths caused by Covid-19, bringing the death toll to 8,957. The mortality rate was 0.20%.
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The number of critically ill patients fell to 885 from 896 a day earlier.
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Health authorities have estimated that the current wave is expected to peak at some 350,000 daily cases around mid-March, as the Omicron variant rages across the country.
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But the government has abandoned contact tracing and rigorous treatment to focus more on treating severe cases and preventing deaths, as Omicron is highly contagious but less lethal.
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Seoul also adopted an improved home treatment system and increased use of rapid antigen self-testing kits amid shortages of medical personnel and other resources.
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From Saturday, the government relaxed some of the social distancing rules by extending the opening hours of 12 types of multi-purpose facilities, including cafes and restaurants, from one hour to 11 p.m. to better support people. small traders.
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The new curfew will be in effect until March 20 and the current cap of six people for private gatherings will remain in place.
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Of the locally transmitted cases, Seoul reported 49,449. The surrounding province of Gyeonggi and the western city of Incheon added 66,833 and 14,854 new infections respectively. Cases from overseas rose by 88 to 29,744.
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As of Sunday, 31.8 million people, or 62% of the country’s 52 million population, had received a booster dose. The number of fully immunized people stood at 44.39 million, or 86.5 percent of the population, according to the KDCA.
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