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| A medical worker takes a nasal swab sample from a woman at a makeshift COVID-19 testing site in Seoul, Feb. 14. AP-Yonhap |
Daily COVID-19 infections rose sharply to hit another high of over 57,000, Monday, putting the health authorities on alert amid the fast spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant across the nation.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 57,177 cases, including 57,012 local ones, raising the total caseload to 1,462,421.
The latest figure marked the sixth day in a row that daily infections have surpassed 50,000.
The death toll from COVID-19 came to 7,163, up 61 from Sunday for a fatality rate of 0.49 percent, the KDCA said.
The health authorities have warned that daily new cases could hit 170,000 by around the end of the month. The National Institute of Mathematical Sciences, a state-run think tank, estimated the figure could even soar as high as 360,000 by early next month. (Yonhap)
