SEOUL, 30th January, 2022 (WAM) — South Korea's daily COVID-19 cases reached an all-time high of 17,532 on Sunday amid a rapid spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant as people headed to their hometowns or went on trips during the Lunar New Year holiday.
The new infections include 17,303 local cases, raising the total to 828,637, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.
The government urged people to refrain from traveling during the holiday to prevent the spread of COVID-19, warning the infection tally could surge to as many as 100,000 a day in the next several weeks.
This year's Lunar New Year holiday runs from Monday to Wednesday and is extended by two days due to the preceding weekend, Yonhap reported.
The death toll from COVID-19 came to 6,732, up 20 from Saturday. The fatality rate stood at 0.81 percent.
As of Sunday, 27 million people, or 53 percent of the country's 52 million population, had received booster shots, the KDCA said.