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number of new corona patients soared to the 600,000 level yesterday (17th).

This is almost twice the size of the peak predicted by the government.

As of yesterday, the death toll also increased by more than 200 from the previous day, a record high.

Despite this spread, the government is expected to ease the number of gatherings to eight people.

The distance adjustment plan will be announced today.



This is Correspondent Han Seong-hee.



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The number of new COVID-19 cases increased by 220,000 to 621,328.



Of these, 70,000 included omissions due to a counting error the day before, and the government explained that 550,000 were normal new cases.



There are 620,000 confirmed cases per day, accounting for 1.2% of the country's population.



The U.S. had the highest number of confirmed cases per day, 0.27% of the population, at the peak in January, and the UK also peaked at 270,000 per day, or 0.4% of the population.



[Lee Sang-won / Head of Epidemiological Investigation and Analysis Team, Central Quarantine Countermeasures Headquarters: We have been preparing for an increase in patients after Omicron prevailed, but we apologize for the larger-than-expected increase in patients.]



The death toll also increased by 265 from 164 the previous day to 429, a record high. It was.



The government explained that due to the delay in reporting the death, the omissions were added up over a few days.



Only the number of severe cases decreased slightly, but it is around 1,000 for the tenth day.



The average daily number of confirmed cases over the past week was 387,000, exceeding the government's peak estimate of 372,000.



The government is recalculating its forecasts and says the forecast for next week's peak remains the same, but the peak period could be longer.



The reason for the explosive increase in the number of confirmed cases was that the amount of rapid antigen testing in hospitals increased significantly and that it had spread to stealth Omicron.



[Lee Sang-won / Head of Epidemiological Investigation and Analysis Team, Central Quarantine Countermeasures Headquarters: (Stealth Omicron) As of March 2, (share) is 26.3%, and it is gradually increasing.

Although it shows a 30% higher transmission power, there is no difference in severity or hospitalization rate…

.]



Amid criticism that the easing of quarantine has caused an explosion, the government will announce a plan to adjust the distance to be applied from next week tomorrow.



The number of private gatherings has been increased by two more, up to a maximum of eight, but it has been tentatively decided to keep the business hours at 11 pm.