South Korea sees all-time high in single-day COVID cases

ANKARA (AA) - COVID-19 cases soared in South Korea on Wednesday, hitting an all-time high of over 4,000 infections, official data showed.

According to the Health Ministry, South Korea recorded 4,116 cases in the past 24 hours, breaking the previous single-day spike of 3,292 from last Thursday, as the country battles the pandemic's fourth wave.

With new infections, the country total cases to date rose to 425,065. The number of critically ill patients also broke the previous record of 549 a day earlier, with 586 in last 24 hours.

The country also added 35 more fatalities, the highest daily number during the ongoing fourth wave, bringing the total number of deaths to 3,187.

Since July 7, new infections have been rising in South Korea following the emergence of the Delta variant.

New cases especially spiked after the government eased restrictions across the country on Nov. 1.

- Emergency response considered

According to local media, now the government is mulling an emergency response plan, as Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum called the latest spike worse than expected and ordered immediate containment measures to stem the virus’ spread.

"Our gradual return to normal life has faced its first hurdle. We are at a point to review whether we should move to the next phase or not, but the situation is more serious than we expected," Yonhap News Agency quoted Kim as telling a COVID-19 response meeting.

Kim also showed concern over the rising number of critically ill patients and directed health authorities to expand home treatment of patients.

"We should beef up support measures so that asymptomatic patients and those with mild symptoms can have treatments at home safely," he added.

Earlier from this month, South Korea announced its "living with COVID-19" scheme allowing people to gather in groups of up to 10 in the capital and its surrounding areas, an up to 12 in other parts of the country, regardless of vaccination.

Limits on working hours for businesses were also lifted, though people asked to continue wearing masks indoors.

When entering high-risk facilities such as pubs, nightclubs, and indoor gyms, visitors must show their immunization certificates or negative COVID-19 test results.

So far, 42.32 million people, or 82.4% of the country's 52 million population, have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while over 40.63 million, or 79.1% people, have been fully vaccinated, according to the agency.

* Writing by Islamuddin Sajid