S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases again near 100,000 over raging omicron

South Korea's new COVID-19 infections rose again to just shy of 100,000 on Tuesday amid fears that the cases could further surge due to the fast spread of the omicron variant across the country.

The country reported 99,573 new COVID-19 infections, including 99,444 local cases, raising the total caseload to 2,157,734, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

New daily infections have risen at a fast pace in recent weeks, surpassing the 100,000 mark for the first time Friday. They remained above the threshold for two more days before falling to 95,362 on Monday due to fewer tests over the weekend.

The health authorities have warned that the caseload could spike further to as high as 270,000 by early next month due to the highly transmissible omicron variant.

The death toll from COVID-19 came to 7,508, up 58 from Monday. The fatality rate was 0.35 percent, according to the KDCA.

The number of critically ill COVID-19 patients came to 480, unchanged from a day earlier. The figure has been on a rise recently, staying above 400 since Saturday amid lingering concerns over a further uptick in line with the growth in total infections.

Despite the latest wave of the virus infections, the government on Saturday extended the business hour curfews for cafes and restaurants by one hour to 10 p.m. in a move to support pandemic-hit merchants.

But it maintained the six-people cap on private gatherings and other antivirus restrictions, while vowing to be "flexible" by closely monitoring the virus situation.

The partially relaxed antivirus rules have spurned anxiety that infections could further increase going forward. The rules will remain in place until March 13.

As of Tuesday, 30.63 million people, or 59.7 percent of the country's 52 million population, had received booster shots. The number of fully vaccinated people came to 44.31 million, accounting for 86.3 percent, the KDCA said. (Yonhap)