SURGE IN COVID-19 CASES

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COVID-19 cases are exploding due to the rampant spread of the omicron variant. The caseload has risen by over 10-thousand in one day to near the 50-thousand mark.

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South Korea on Wednesday reported 49,567 new infections. The daily tally stayed above 30-thousand for four straight days through Tuesday. In just one day, the figure has surged by nearly 13-thousand. By region, the largest portion came from Gyeonggido Province with more than 13-thousand cases. Seoul had over 11-thousand and Incheon 39-hundred new cases. Daily infections topped 20,000 for the first time early this month and reached 30,000 in just 3 days. The tally stayed in the 30-thousand range for 4 days but shot up on Wednesday, recording the largest single day increase since the start of the pandemic of nearly 13-thousand. Authorities said cases rose an average 1.7 fold over the past 3 weeks due to omicron’s greater transmissibility than the previous delta strain. The number of at-home patients is also snowballing to surpass 168,000, accounting for 92% of the maximum manageable capacity. But authorities note that omicron’s hospitalization and fatality rates remain one third the level of delta. Twenty one more deaths were reported, while the number of critically ill patients went up by 17 to 285. Meanwhile on Wednesday morning, the first batch of 840-thousand doses of the Novavax vaccine produced locally rolled out from an SK Bioscience factory in Andong, Gyeongsangbukdo Province. The vaccine is distributed in disposable syringes containing one dose each. They can be administered immediately without having to be diluted or divided into portions. The Novavax vaccine will be used for those who have yet to be inoculated, including nursing home residents.