South Korea reports record 90,443 COVID cases, daily count doubles in a week
SEOUL: South Korea on Wednesday (Feb 16) reported a daily record of 90,443 new coronavirus cases, as numbers nearly doubled within a week amid the spread of the highly infectious Omicron variant.
The record count for Tuesday marked a drastic surge from 57,177 a day before and brought total infections in the country since the pandemic began to 1,552,851. Deaths remain comparatively low, though, with 39 fatalities on Tuesday and a total of 7,202 so far, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA)
The country of 52 million population has largely been a
COVID-19 mitigation success story, thanks mainly to the widespread wearing of
masks, social distancing and aggressive testing and tracing.
But authorities have shifted testing and tracing policy, in
line with the less fatal Omicron variant's spread, toward self-monitoring and
diagnosis and at-home treatment starting this month.
More than 86 per cent of South Koreans have been fully
vaccinated and 58 per cent have received a booster shot, KDCA data showed.
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