After China, South Korea facing worst Covid outbreak as Omicron drives up cases
After China, South Korea is now facing its worst Covid-19 outbreak as the country hit another milestone, recording over 4,00,000 infection cases on Wednesday.
According to the state media, South Korea reported 4,00,741 new daily Covid-19 cases, the highest since the country reported its first Covid-19 case in January last year.
Most of these cases were said to be locally transmitted.
With fresh cases, South Korea’s overall caseload has now surged to 7,629,275, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) was quoted as saying on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, South Korea had its deadliest day of the pandemic with 293 deaths reported in 24 hours, news agency Associated Press reported.
CHINA’S WORST COVID OUTBREAK
China is reportedly facing its worst Covid-19 outbreak, forcing millions to go under lockdown.
Witnessing a steep jump in total infections, China recorded 3,290 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, including 11 severe cases.
China, where the first virus case emerged in Wuhan in late 2019, has not officially reported any Covid-related deaths for more than a year, news agency AFP reported.
Meanwhile, in a bid to contain the virus spread, China decided to free up hospital beds as officials on Wednesday reported thousands of new cases from an Omicron-led coronavirus outbreak.
Also, China’s Jilin province was “in a last ditch battle” against Covid-19, a senior Communist Party official said, as the northeastern region bordering North Korea and Russia accounted for three-quarters of China’s total new cases on Wednesday.
The sudden spike in Covid cases has put around 17.5 million residents of the southern tech hub of Shenzhen under lockdown. Moreover, restrictions have been imposed on Shanghai and other cities.
The restrictions come at a time when the global economy is under pressure from Russia’s war on Ukraine, surging oil prices and weak consumer demand.
COVID-19 OMICRON VARIANT
The highly transmissible Omicron variant of Covid-19 is said to be behind the exponential surge in cases in China and South Korea.
The variant is yet again posing the sternest challenge to China’s ‘zero-Covid’ strategy to contain the pandemic.
INDIA’S COVID SITUATION
India reported 2,876 fresh Covid-19 cases, 3,884 recoveries and 98 deaths in the last 24 hours. The active caseload touched 32,811, while the daily positivity rate stood at 0.38 per cent.
Meanwhile, the Centre has stepped up its Covid-19 vaccination drive, allowing the 12-14 age group to get Covid-19 jabs.