SEOUL. KAZINFORM — New COVID-19 cases in South Korea hit a near four-month high Tuesday amid a resurgence of infections caused by a highly infectious subvariant of omicron, Yonhap reports.
The country added 149,897 new COVID-19 infections, since April 13, when the count reached 195,387, bringing the total number of cases to 20,694,239, the Korea Disease Prevention and Control Agency (KDCA) said. The count includes 588 cases from abroad.
On Tuesday it rose from 55,292 the previous day and 111,785 the previous week.
The number of instances tends to decrease on Mondays, due to the lower number of tests, and recovers on weekdays.
The number of critically ill patients also increased to 364, up from 324 the day before.
The KDCA reported 40 new COVID-19 deaths, bringing the death toll to 25,332. The mortality rate is 0. 12%.
Daily COVID-19 cases have tended to decline after peaking at around 620,000 in mid-March. But since the government lifted almost all anti-pandemic restrictions in April, infections have again shown peak symptoms, due to increased movement and public gatherings.
Imported cases have surged, with numbers between 400 and 600 this month, particularly more than before restrictions were lifted.
The health government said the latest wave of infections could peak this week at the earliest.
As of Tuesday, 44. 66 million, or 87 of the country’s population, had gotten full two-dose vaccines, and 33. 49 million, or 65. 3Array, had gotten their first booster shots.
About 4. 26 million people, or 12. 2 million of the population, gained their booster opportunity, the KDCA said.
Photo: en. yna. co. kr