Seoul's daily COVID-19 infections hit 10,000 for 1st time

Seoul's daily tally of new COVID-19 infections reached 11,682 on Wednesday, the first ever figure over 10,000 since the country's first case reported two years ago, according to city officials.

The daily COVID-19 tally in the capital city has been growing rapidly with the fast spread of omicron variant, hitting the 5,000 level for the first time a week earlier and repeatedly renewing its record to surpass the 8,000 level last Saturday.

Of the latest total, 11,630 cases were locally transmitted, with the remaining 52 cases imported from abroad.

The accumulated caseload in the city stood at 337,930 as of midnight Wednesday, while 102,058 citizens were under quarantine for COVID-19 infections.

The death toll came to three Wednesday, bringing the total number of COVID-19 deaths in the city to 2,212, according to city officials.

The country overall reported 49,567 new COVID-19 infections on the day, the first time the daily tally has exceeded the 40,000 level, amid the upsurge in omicron transmissions. (Yonhap)