South Korea breaks daily Covid case record with over 620,000
Seoul, Mar 17 (EFE).- South Korea on Thursday hit a new record of over 621,000 daily Covid-19 cases, with authorities estimating that the country is nearing the peak of its Omicron wave.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency reported 621,328 cases, of which 62 were international arrivals.
The tally marked a 55 percent case surge in one day, and 120 percent up on a week ago.
A record 429 deaths were also reported, although the number of people with moderate to severe symptoms was down by about 100 patients from Wednesday to 1,159. The fatality rate is 0.14 percent.
The Ministry of Health has said that it estimates that the peak of the current wave caused by the Omicron variant will be reached this week or next, and Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum has requested to review the protocols to reclassify Covid-19 as a less serious illness.
This would allow more flexibility for health services to combat a growing number of cases, which in turn are mostly mild or asymptomatic.
The authorities have been gradually relaxing restrictions and on Friday a meeting is scheduled to decide on the extension or relaxation of the main measures, such as an 11 pm business curfew and meetings with a maximum of six people.
The Asian country, where 86.6 percent of the population is double vaccinated and 62.8 percent have had a booster dose, is one of the countries that has best managed the pandemic, especially at the beginning. By Thursday it had accumulated some 8,250,000 infections and just over 11,400 deaths. EFE
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