Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

People queue successful enactment to hold for the coronavirus investigating astatine a makeshift investigating tract successful Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2021. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said Thursday that much than 100 radical died successful the latest 24-hour period. That raised the country's full fig of pandemic fatalities to implicit 5,000. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

SEOUL – South Korea acceptable a caller grounds for COVID-19 deaths connected Thursday arsenic officials warned that the highly transmissible omicron variant could soon go the ascendant strain.

In caller weeks, South Korea has been grappling with soaring infections and deaths aft it importantly relaxed restrictions successful aboriginal November arsenic portion of efforts to instrumentality to pre-pandemic normalcy.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said a grounds 109 radical died successful the past 24-hour period, raising the country’s full fig of pandemic fatalities to 5,015. It said the fig of patients successful superior oregon captious conditions besides deed a caller precocious of 1,083.

The bureau said that further 6,919 radical person tested affirmative for the coronavirus, bringing the nationalist caseload to 589,978. It said authorities person besides confirmed 12 much cases of the omicron variant, pushing the full to 246.

The delta variant is presently accounting for a immense bulk of the recently reported cases successful South Korea, but that could alteration soon.

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Senior wellness authoritative Lee Sang-won said earlier this week that it's imaginable the omicron variant would go the ascendant strain successful South Korea wrong 1 oregon 2 months. Jaehun Jung, a prof astatine Gachon University College of Medicine successful South Korea, besides said that “a meaningful (level) of infections caused by omicron could hap successful our state successful February oregon March.”

Alarmed by record-breaking surges of caller infections and deaths, South Korea connected Saturday restored its toughest distancing rules, specified arsenic a four-person headdress connected backstage gatherings and a 9 p.m. curfew connected restaurants and cafes.

The surge has threatened to overwhelm hospitals and was straining the country’s wellness care.

Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol said Wednesday that South Korea is astatine “a captious juncture” arsenic the information of its aesculapian strategy reaching limits grows. He said breakthrough infections and transmissions among unvaccinated radical are liable for a rising fig of critically-ill patients, which helium said is overmuch higher than the authorities had earlier expected erstwhile it eased distancing curbs astatine the commencement of November.

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According to authorities data, 36 radical person died astatine location oregon facilities portion waiting for beds betwixt Nov. 28 and Dec. 18. Other information amusement that arsenic of Wednesday, astir 80% of beds astatine intensive attraction units for COVID-19 patients successful South Korea were occupied.

Kwon said the authorities plans to unafraid thousands of caller beds and found a capableness to woody with 10,000 caller cases.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.