SOUTH Korea’s new Covid-19 cases reached a 66-day high at more than 41,000 today amid the spread of a highly contagious new Omicron subvariant.

The country reported 41,310 new infections, including 287 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 18,721,415, Yonhap news agency quoted the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) as saying.

Today’s figure more than doubled from 20,286 new cases recorded a week earlier, as the country has seen a marked increase in infections from end-June due to the highly contagious Omicron subvariant BA.5.

The daily count hit more than 10,000 on June 29 for the first time in about three weeks and rose to over 20,000 last Saturday and then above 40,000 on Wednesday. The infection tally on Thursday and yesterday stood at 39,196 and 38,882 respectively.

The KDCA reported 16 deaths from the virus today, putting the death toll at 24,728. The fatality rate stood at 0.13%.

The KDCA has said the country has entered a new virus wave, ending a downward trend from the peak of more than 620,000 in mid-March, and that the daily infections could surge to over 200,000 next month.

The BA.5 subvariant accounted for 35% of the country’s total Covid-19 cases last week, up from 28.2% a week earlier, according to the KDCA.

It is known to be more contagious and better able to escape immunity compared with earlier versions. – Bernama, July 16, 2022.