Korea's daily COVID-19 cases hit new high

People queue for a COVID-19 test at a temporary screening clinic for the coronavirus in Seoul, Jan. 27. AP-Yonhap

Daily COVID-19 cases reached yet another record high Thursday, as the country grapples with the rapid spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus with a new nationwide response system set to come into force.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 16,096 new COVID-19 infections, including 15,894 local ones, raising the total to 793,582.

The daily count set a new record for the fourth consecutive day, spiking from 8,570, Tuesday, and has more than quadrupled since Jan. 17, when the tally hovered around 3,800.

The death toll from the coronavirus came to 6,678, up 24 from Thursday, for fatality rate of 0.84 percent.

Critically ill COVID-19 patients stood at 316, down 34 from the previous day.

The KDCA said the infection tally could surge to as many as 100,000 a day in the next several weeks.

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The government is set to introduce a revised virus response system Saturday to tackle the Omicron wave.

Some 250 testing stations set up at public health centers and large hospitals will adopt both rapid antigen self-tests and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests. People can choose which one they want to take.

People aged over 60 or in high-risk groups, such as those with underlying illnesses, will be prioritized for PCR tests.

Beginning Thursday next week, local hospitals and clinics will also administer self-test kits.

The KDCA said the revised regime is designed to minimize critical cases and deaths, while preventing an overload and collapse of the medical system.

The system will expand nationwide after the three-day Lunar New Year holiday running till Wednesday.

Of the locally transmitted cases Friday, Gyeonggi Province that surrounds Seoul reported 5,143, followed by the capital with 3,946 and the western port city of Incheon with 1,228.

The number of imported cases was tallied at 202, bringing that total to 24,649.

As of Friday, 26.35 million people, or 51.4 percent of the country's 52 million population, had received booster shots, the KDCA said. The number of fully vaccinated people came to 43.93 million people, accounting for 85.6 percent. (Yonhap)

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