A person is inoculated with the Pfizer booster shot at a hospital in Seoul on Nov. 14, 2022. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Nov. 23 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s new COVID-19 cases stayed above 70,000 for the second straight day Wednesday, fanning concerns over a new virus wave this winter.
The country reported 70,324 new COVID-19 infections, including 69 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 26,725,053, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.
Wednesday’s tally is a 2,549 drop from a day earlier, but more than 3,700 higher than the same day last week.
The R number — a way of rating the coronavirus or any other disease’s ability to spread — surpassed 1 for the fifth consecutive week, health authorities said during a regular briefing early in the day.
If an R value is higher than one, it means the number of cases is increasing.
The country reported 53 deaths from COVID-19 on Wednesday, raising the death toll to 30,164. The fatality rate stood at 0.11 percent.
The number of critically ill patients came to 477, up 16 from the previous day. This is the fifth straight day the figure has surpassed 400.
Starting Thursday, booster shots for people 18 or older have been expanded to include those who have been inoculated or were infected with the virus over 90 days ago. Previously, the recommended interval period for booster shots was 120 days.
Health authorities said a new virus wave appears to have started and urged the public to receive booster shots to prevent a further surge in cases.
(Yonhap)
