(ORDO NEWS) — South Korea reported a record number of new infections with the COVID-19 virus on Thursday as the country battles a surge in cases caused by a highly transmissible variant of omicron.
The Korea Agency for Disease Control and Prevention registered 621,328 new cases of COVID-19 on Thursday, The Washington Post reported, setting a record for a pandemic in the country. This number is 55 percent more than the 400,730 cases reported the day before.
Thursday was also the deadliest day of the pandemic for South Korea, with 429 deaths reported, according to the Post.
However, officials in the country noted that the number of deaths is quite low – 0.14 percent – thanks to the successful vaccination carried out in South Korea, the Post reported. More than 85 percent of the country’s residents are fully vaccinated, and about 60 percent have been re-vaccinated.
At the end of the month, children aged 5 to 11 will be able to receive the vaccine, reports the Post.
The surge in COVID-19 cases in South Korea comes at a time when the country is grappling with a highly transmissible variant of omicron. Although this strain is less lethal, it has proven to spread quickly through the population.
South Korea recently cut some of its COVID-19 mitigation measures to allocate the country’s limited resources to the elderly and those with pre-existing medical conditions, the Post reported.
As of Thursday morning, South Korea had the highest average daily number of COVID-19 cases of any country, according to The New York Times.
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