S’Korea Covid cases again surge to near 2L

Seoul: South Korea’s new Covid-19 cases jumped to a four-month high on Wednesday following the extended weekend amid the continued spread of a highly contagious omicron sub-variant, state media reported. The country added 1,80,803 new infections, including 567 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 21,682,816, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). It is the highest figure since April 13, when the daily tally came to 1,95,387 amid the worst virus wave, Yonhap news agency reported. Wednesday’s figure also more than doubled from the previous day’s 84,128 cases. It is also about 20 percent larger than the 151,792 infections logged a week earlier. “An increase in travelers in the summer vacation season and the recent extended Liberation Day holiday are expected to have an impact (on infection tallies) this week,” Kim Sung-ho, the head of the interior ministry’s disaster management office, said during a government Covid response meeting.