Seoul, Nov 24, : .South Korea’s coronavirus and critical cases rose to all-time highs Wednesday.
This prompted the government to consider imposing an emergency Covid-19 plan, just weeks after relaxing social distancing rules in the “living with Covid-19” scheme.Kim Boo-kyum, Prime Minister, urged health authorities for tighter containment measures.
He stated that the country faces the first hurdle in its return to normalcy, and that the Seoul metropolitan area, which is home to half the country’s 52million inhabitants, is in an urgent state, Yonhap news agency reported.
According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, (KDCA), the country reported 4,116 new Covid-19 infections, including 4,088 local infection cases.This brings the total caseload to 425.065.
This was the highest level since January last year, when the country had its first confirmed coronavirus infection.It also broke the previous daily record of 3292, which was reported last Thursday.
Critically ill patients reached an all-time high 586.
35 more people died from Covid-19 in the country, the highest death toll since July’s fourth wave of the pandemic.The fatality rate was 0.79 percent.
Daily infections rose after the government began to ease antivirus restrictions starting November 1, in order to gradually return to pre-pandemic conditions under the three-phase “living With Covid-19” scheme.
South Korea had planned to move to the second stage by mid-December.
However, health officials have warned that the country may not achieve this if the current trend continues.
The government is having difficulty finding enough beds in hospitals, especially in the Greater Seoul area, because of the high number of infections and rising numbers of critically ill patients.
Kim stated that it was important to beefen support measures to ensure that patients with mild symptoms and those suffering from asymptomatic conditions can receive treatment at home.
According to health authorities, 83.3 percent of the beds for patients in serious conditions in Seoul and its surroundings were occupied by Tuesday at 5 p.m.
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