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S. Korea’s new COVID-19 cases top 16,000 amid omicron wave

January 28, 2022

South Korea’s daily COVID-19 cases reached yet another record high Friday, as the country grapples with the rapid spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant with a new nationwide virus response system set to come into force.

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

The daily count broke the record for the fourth consecutive day, spiking from 8,570 on Tuesday. The per day figures have more than quadrupled since Jan. 17, when the tally hovered around 3,800.

The death toll from COVID-19 came to 6,678, up 24 from Thursday. The fatality rate stood at 0.84 percent.

The number of critically ill COVID-19 patients was 316, down 34 from the previous day.

As of 6 p.m. on Friday, the country had reported 10,629 new COVID-19 cases, up 1,535 from the same time a day ago, according to health authorities and local governments. Daily cases are counted until midnight and announced the following morning.

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

A medical worker carries out a COVID-19 test on a man at a makeshift testing station at Seoul Station in Seoul on Jan. 28, 2022. (Yonhap)
A COVID-19 testing booth is crowded with people seeking to take diagnostic tests, in a public health center in the southern port city of Busan, in this photo taken Jan. 27, 2022. (Yonhap)

A medical worker carries out a COVID-19 test on a man at a makeshift testing station at Seoul Station in Seoul on Jan. 28, 2022. (Yonhap)