torsdag 17. mars 2022

South Korea reports record Covid deaths as daily cases surge past 600,000

South Korea reported record daily Covid infections and record deaths caused by the virus, as the country which once took an aggressive anti-pandemic approach is set to end Covid restrictions. On Thursday, authorities said 621,328 new daily cases of the virus were recorded, and 429 deaths.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said the highly infectious Omicron variant was driving the record wave of infections and while a public survey revealed many expected to catch the virus, few feared serious health consequences. Daily infections are far higher than health authorities had predicted. On Wednesday the government said it expected the wave to top out with daily cases in the mid-400,000. Less than a month ago it had predicted the peak of the wave would come in mid-March at 140,000 – 270,000 daily cases.