People wait to take coronavirus tests at a makeshift testing center in front of City Hall in Seoul on Jan. 18, 2022. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Jan. 19 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s daily coronavirus cases jumped to over 5,000 for the first time in 20 days Wednesday amid growing concerns over the spread of the omicron virus variant ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.
The country added 5,805 new COVID-19 infections, including 5,431 local infections, raising the total caseload to 705,902, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
The daily caseload had stayed below 5,000 since Dec. 30, when it stood at 5,034.
The number of critically ill COVID-19 patients stood at 532 on Wednesday. The country reported 74 COVID-19 deaths, raising the death toll to 6,452. The fatality rate was 0.91 percent.
The number of imported cases was tallied at 374, bringing the total imported cases to 22,304.
As of 9 p.m., the country had added 5,249 new COVID-19 cases, up 403 from the same time the previous day, according to health authorities and city governments. Daily cases are counted until midnight and announced the following morning.
A medical worker calls on a person waiting to take a coronavirus test at a makeshift testing center in front of Seoul Station in Seoul on Jan. 19, 2022. (Yonhap)
The hike in daily cases came a day after the KDCA lifted the vaccine pass program at several kinds of multiuse facilities, including department stores, large discount stores, cinemas and cram schools, across the country.
Still, the vaccine pass scheme will remain in effect at such facilities as cafes, restaurants, nightclubs, indoor gyms, karaoke establishments, internet cafes and public bathhouses, the public health agency said.
The program requires people to present proof of COVID-19 vaccination or negative test results when entering multiuse facilities. It has been in effect since November when the number of daily infections soared to nearly 8,000.
On Monday, the government raised the limit on the size of private gatherings to six from the previous four. But it extended a 9 p.m. curfew on restaurants and cafes, which has been in place since mid-December, for another three weeks until Feb. 6.
The move came amid deepening worries over a drastic upsurge in infections, as the highly transmissible omicron variant has spread at a fast pace and many people are expected to travel for family reunions during the Lunar New Year holiday that begins later this month.
As of Wednesday, 43.63 million people, or 85 percent of the country’s 52 million population, have been fully vaccinated, and 24 million, or 46.8 percent, have received booster shots, the KDCA said.
On Tuesday, 770,000 doses of Pfizer vaccines arrived in South Korea, raising the accumulated Pfizer vaccine doses this year to 1.69 million.
In 2022, the government has secured a total of 150 million doses of Pfizer, Moderna, Novavax, Janssen and Covax vaccines, the KDCA said.
(Yonhap)
