NEWS BRIEF

[Anchor Lead]

South Korea has added over 30,000 new COVID-19 cases for three straight days. The Central Disease Control Headquarters said that the daily tally came to 35,286 as of the midnight on Monday. The capital area accounted for more than half of the total. By region, Gyeonggi-do Province represented the largest portion of 9,780, followed by Seoul with 6,873 and Incheon with 2,366. The number of critically ill patients dropped by two day on day to 270. Thirteen more people died from the virus, compared to a day earlier.
President Moon Jae-in has asked the people to trust the government and cooperate with its anti-virus measures, saying that the fast spread of Omicron is the last hurdle before the nation returns to normal life. Moon made the remarks in a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, which he chaired for the first time in six months. Despite the spread of Omicron and a spike in infections, the president expected that the nation will be able to eventually overcome the current surge with the people’s mature attitude in following anti-virus rules and competent medical workers.