South Korea's daily virus cases soar to record high of over 400,000

South Korea’s daily COVID-19 case count shattered all previous records on Wednesday, topping 400,000 for the first time since the start of the pandemic.

A total of 400,741 new infections and 164 deaths were recorded over the past day, raising the overall tally above 7.62 million, including 11,052 fatalities, according to government data.

Infections have surged exponentially since the first case of the highly contagious omicron variant was detected in South Korea last December.

Over the past seven days, authorities have reported over 2.41 million infections and 1,612 fatalities.

The number of critically ill patients is also increasing, with 1,244 people currently in hospitals with severe symptoms, according to the Health Ministry.

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum has directed authorities to prepare their next strategy as the current measures, including a six-person cap on private gatherings and an 11 p.m. curfew for businesses, are due to end this Sunday, Yonhap News Agency reported.

As of Wednesday, 32.18 million people, or 62.7% of the country’s population of around 52 million, have received COVID-19 vaccine booster shots.

The total number of fully vaccinated people is 44.44 million, or 86.6% of the population, latest data showed.​​​​​​​