coronavirus-additional cases

S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases over 50,000 for 2nd day amid raging omicron

SEOUL, Feb. 11 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's daily COVID-19 infections stayed above 50,000 for the second day in a row on Friday amid the fast spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant across the nation.

The country reported 53,926 new COVID-19 infections, including 53,797 local cases, raising the total to 1,239,287, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

It marks the second day in a row that the daily tally exceeded the 50,000 level. A daily record high of 54,122 was reported Thursday.

New infections have soared by nearly fourfold over the past two weeks over the omicron variant, which accounted for more than 92 percent of the total cases reported last week.

The health authorities have warned that the figure could reach 170,000 by around the end of this month, though it is too early to say if it will be the peak of the omicron surge.

The death toll from COVID-19 came to 7,012, up 49 from Thursday.

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