South Korea's virus cases surge to record high as millions vote for new president

By Islamuddin Sajid

ANKARA (AA) – South Korea’s daily coronavirus case count hit a new peak on Wednesday, shattering all previous records on a day when millions are heading to the polls to elect a new president.

A total of 342,446 new infections were recorded in the country, the highest single-day figure since the start of the pandemic, raising the overall tally above 5.21 million, according to government data.

The coronavirus death toll also swelled by 158 to reach 9,440.

Infections have surged since the first case of the highly contagious omicron variant was reported in South Korea last December.

Over the past seven days, authorities have reported 1.71 million infections and 1,174 fatalities.

The virus situation has also spiraled since campaigning for the presidential election kicked off on Feb. 15, with over 3.7 million cases and 2,250 deaths recorded in just the past 21 days.

For Wednesday’s vote, authorities have decided to allow COVID-19 patients and those in quarantine to cast their ballots in the evening after regular voting ends.

As of Wednesday, 31.9 million people, or 62.2% of the country’s population of around 52 million, have received booster shots of COVID-19 vaccines.

The total number of completely vaccinated people is 44.4 million, or 86.5% of the population, latest data showed.​​​​​​​