New COVID-19 cases fall below 140,000 for 2nd day; deaths remain high

South Korea reported less than 140,000 cases of COVID-19 for the second consecutive day Tuesday due to fewer tests over the weekend, but virus-related deaths remained high amid the fast spread of the highly contagious omicron variant.

The country reported 138,993 new coronavirus infections, including 138,935 local cases, raising the total caseload to 3,273,449, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

The tally surpassed the 100,000 mark for the first time in mid-February and soared to an all-time high of 171,442 on Feb. 23 before staying around the 160,000 level for the following days.

Tuesday's daily caseload marked a slight drop from the previous day's 139,626.

The country reported 112 more COVID-19 deaths, slightly down from the previous day when virus-related deaths reached the highest figure of 114.

The accumulated death toll came to 8,170, and the fatality rate was 0.25 percent, according to the KDCA.

The number of critically ill COVID-19 patients also rose further to 727 on Tuesday, jumping nearly 50 percent compared with a week earlier.

The government said the current wave is expected to peak at some 250,000 daily cases in mid-March as the highly contagious omicron variant is raging across the nation.

Amid a continued shortage of staff handling the pandemic, the government decided to temporarily suspend the enforcement of the vaccine pass system starting Tuesday in 11 types of public facilities, including restaurants and cafes.

Of the locally transmitted cases reported, Seoul reported 27,885 new cases. The surrounding Gyeonggi Province and the western city of Incheon added 39,211 and 8,956 new infections, respectively. Cases from overseas went up 58.

As of Tuesday, 31.50 million people, or 61.4 percent of the country's 52 million population, had received booster shots. The number of fully vaccinated people came to 44.37 million, accounting for 86.5 percent, according to the KDCA. (Yonhap)