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| ▲ People stand in line to take coronavirus tests at a makeshift testing site in front of Seoul Station on March 27, 2022. South Korea reported 318,130 new virus cases on the day. (Yonhap) |
(LEAD) coronavirus-additional cases
(LEAD) S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases fall below 200,000 as peak of worst wave passes
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SEOUL, March 28 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's new daily COVID-19 cases fell below 200,000 for the first time in 25 days Monday, as the omicron-driven virus peak appears to have passed amid growing concerns over the spread of the even more transmissible "stealth omicron" subvariant.
The country added 187,213 new coronavirus infections, including 25 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 12,003,054, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.
It is the first time since March 2 that the daily caseload dropped below 200,000. On March 2, the figure came to 198,803.
The caseload has been on a constant slide since Wednesday. Monday's tally is down from 318,130 reported the previous day, and the comparable figure for a week earlier is 209,000.
Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol said the virus wave reached the peak around last week and has shifted to a downward trend some 11 weeks after a drastic increase in infections.
"But we cannot let down our guard, as the number of serious cases and deaths could spike two to three weeks after the peak," Kwon said during a meeting over the country's response to the new coronavirus.
The country added 287 COVID-19 deaths, up five from Sunday's tally. The fatality rate stood at 0.13 percent.
The number of critically ill patients came to 1,273, up 57 from the previous day, the KDCA said.
The country has seen BA.2, the "stealth omicron" subvariant, become the dominant variant, with the subvariant accounting for 22.9 percent of the total infections in the first week of this month to 56.3 percent last week, the minister noted.
"As the stealth omicron has been spreading at a fast pace, the number of virus patients has moved up again in some European nations. We need to monitor the situation more closely before definitely saying if the pandemic is tracking downward," he added.
As of Monday, 32.63 million people out of the total population, or 63.6 percent, had received booster shots. The number of fully vaccinated people came to 44.47 million, representing 86.7 percent, the KDCA said.
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