▲ This photo taken March 1, 2022, shows a street of Jongno, central Seoul, amid the rapid spread of the more transmissible omicron variant. (Yonhap)

coronavirus-additional cases

S. Korea's daily COVID-19 cases surpass 200,000 for 1st time amid omicron's spread

SEOUL, March 2 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's daily coronavirus cases surpassed 200,000 for the first time Wednesday as the highly transmissible omicron variant continues its frenetic spread across the nation.

The surge came after the government temporarily suspended the enforcement of the vaccine pass system Tuesday, citing the lack of staff handling the pandemic.

The country reported a record high of 219,241 new coronavirus infections, including 219,173 local cases, raising the total caseload to 3,492,686 according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

Virus-related deaths fell to 96 on Wednesday from 112 a day earlier, bringing the death toll to 8,266. The fatality rate was 0.24 percent, the KDCA said.

The number of critically ill COVID-19 patients rose to 762 from 727 during the same period.

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