New COVID-19 cases below 6,000 for 2nd day; critical cases and deaths at record highs

Seoul (South Korea), December 14: South Korea's new coronavirus cases stayed below 6,000 for the second straight day Tuesday, but critical cases and deaths hit record highs amid concerns over the spread of the new omicron variant.
The country added 5,567 new COVID-19 infections, including 5,525 local cases, raising the total caseload to 528,652, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
Daily infections soared to a record high of 7,174 cases on Wednesday and remained above 7,000 for the following two days. The daily caseload fell to 5,817 on Monday after reporting 6,976 on Saturday and 6,688 on Sunday.
The number of critically ill COVID-19 patients hit a record high of 906. Deaths from the pandemic also marked a fresh record of 94, bringing the death toll to 4,387. The fatality rate stood at 0.83 percent, the KDCA said.
The public health agency has confirmed five more omicron cases, raising the total to 119.
Of the locally transmitted cases, Seoul reported 2,053 infections, while 1,486 came from the surrounding Gyeonggi Province and 348 from Incheon, 40 kilometers west of Seoul.
The country reported 42 imported cases, raising the caseload to 16,147, the KDCA said.
To stem the spread of the virus, health authorities are currently focused on accelerating the inoculation campaign across the nation with booster shots.
Starting Sunday, the government cut the dosage interval between primary vaccinations and booster shots to three months from the previous four to five months in order to stem the spread of the virus and better protect senior citizens and other vulnerable groups.
A total of 43.04 million people, or 83.8 percent of the country's 52 million population, have received their first shots of COVID-19 vaccines, and 41.76 million people, or 81.3 percent, have been fully vaccinated, with 7.12 million people, or 13.9 percent, having gotten their booster shots, the KDCA said.
The government also started sending medical workers to schools Monday in an effort to increase vaccinations among children.
Also Monday, the government began enforcing the COVID-19 vaccine pass system at more businesses, including restaurants, cafes, cram schools and internet cafes.
Under the system, only fully vaccinated individuals and those with negative COVID-19 test results can visit those facilities.
Starting Monday, businesses will be fined 1.5 million won (US$1,260) if they fail to abide by the vaccine pass system. The fine can go up to 3 million won for repeat violations. Businesses can also be ordered to permanently close for more than four violations.
Individual violators can be fined 100,000 won each time they violate the vaccine pass system.
It is part of the government's stricter social distancing rules, which will remain in place until Jan. 2. Private gatherings are limited to six people in the greater Seoul area and eight in the rest of the country.
Source: Yonhap