South Korea reported a record of more more than 600,000 cases of coronavirus on Thursday, with authorities saying the country was close to peaking of a vague of infection fueled by the omicron.
According to data from the World Health Organization (WHO), South Korea is at the top of the ranking. world in new cases reported in the last seven days with 2,417,174 infections, followed by Vietnam with 1,776,045.
Thursday’s tally of 621,328 cases is South Korea’s highest daily figure since the start of the pandemic.
Corn critical cases and deaths remain relatively low in the country of about 52 millions where the majority of adults are fully vaccinated and have received a booster, official Data shows.
“We prepared for a raise in the number of patients since omicron became mainstream,” Lee Sang-wonune senior official at the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said on Thursday.
But even the government’s modeling hadn’t anticipated that much, he said.
“The number is much higher than expected,” he said.
Health authorities say South Korea is nearing peak of a wave driven by the omicron, but Lee said they were recalculating “the scale of confirmed cases or how long the “peak period” goes last.”
Once passed, officials believe the country will be able to start to obtain back Normal.
“I think this crisis will be the last major crisis in global response to COVID-19,” Sohn Young-rae, a senior The Ministry of Health official said on Wednesday.
Since the start of the pandemic in 2020, 11,481 people is dead of COVID-19[feminineinSouthKoreaaccordingtohealthauthorities[feminineinCoréeduSudselonlesautoritéssanitaires
His total Death related to COVID-19 rate is 0.14% of Thursday, against 0.05% to 0.1% for seasonal flu, according to official statistics.
The omicron surge and its economic implications will pose an immediate problem challenge to South Korea new President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, who closely won last week.
Seoul abandoned his “trace, test and treat”approach last months like a dramatic push in omicron cases threaten to overwhelm its health care system.
To the place of mass testing and aggressive contact tracing, patients with mild or moderate symptoms are now advised to take care of themselves at home.
The authorities are also prioritize polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing for people aged 60 or over.
The country continued to ease son social distancing rulesunder pressure from small business owners who say that COVID-19 restrictions for years had pushed them to the brink.
the government should decide whether or not to keep current distancing guidelines, such as an 11 p.m. curfew for businesses this Friday.
Later this month, Seoul also begin vaccinate children between the ages of 5 and 11.
