South Korea's new COVID-19 cases hit new high of nearly 40,000 amid Omicron wave

The country reported 38,691 new COVID-19 infections, including 38,502 local cases, raising the total to 1,009,688, Yonhap news agency quoted the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

The accumulated virus caseload surpassed 1 million on Sunday, two years after the country reported its first COVID-19 case.

The daily tally surged to over 30,000 for the first time on Saturday, just three days after breaking the 20,000 mark. The figure topped the 10,000 level for the first time on Jan 26.

New daily cases have soared by nearly five-fold over the past two weeks, driven by the highly contagious Omicron variant.

Daily cases are feared to possibly reach 100,000 in the coming weeks following the three-day Lunar New Year holiday, which ended Wednesday, according to the health authorities.

The death toll from COVID-19 came to 6,873, up 15 from Saturday. The fatality rate was 0.71 per cent.

In an effort to curb the virus, the government decided to extend the current toughened social distancing curbs for two more weeks starting on Monday through Feb 20.

Under the scheme, private gatherings of more than six people are banned and businesses are subject to a 9 pm curfew.

The government will also lower the age of eligibility for COVID-19 treatment pills from 60 to 50 starting Monday.