Omicron Dominance Renders Vaccine Passports Useless... Over 6,000 Confirmed Cases by 6 PM, Highest for Same Time Slot (Summary)

5,869 Confirmed Cases as of 6 PM... A Sharp Increase of 3,135 from a Week Ago
First Time in the 5,000s Range

[Asia Economy Reporter Jin-ho Kim] As the Omicron variant of COVID-19 becomes the dominant strain, nearly 6,000 confirmed cases were reported nationwide by 6 p.m. on the 24th. There are criticisms that the government's introduced 'vaccine pass' to curb the spread of COVID-19 has effectively become useless.

According to the quarantine authorities, Seoul city, and other local governments, from midnight to 6 p.m. on this day, a total of 5,869 confirmed COVID-19 cases were recorded across 17 cities and provinces nationwide.

This is the first time that the number of confirmed cases during this time period has reached the 5,000 range since the outbreak of COVID-19 in Korea. It far exceeded the previous highest number of 4,791 cases recorded at the same time on the 22nd, setting a new record high.

In particular, this is an increase of 1,454 cases compared to the 4,415 cases recorded at the same time the previous day. Compared to the 2,734 cases recorded at the same time a week ago on the 17th, it surged by 3,135 cases.

This is mainly attributed to Omicron becoming the dominant strain. Last week (from the 17th to the 23rd), the detection rate of the Omicron variant in Korea was recorded at 50.3%.

Since there is still time until midnight when the tally closes, the number of new confirmed cases to be announced on the 25th is expected to increase beyond the current interim tally.

On this day, 3,251 new confirmed cases (55.4%) occurred in the metropolitan area, and 2,618 cases (44.6%) occurred in non-metropolitan areas. By city and province, the numbers are: Gyeonggi 1,739, Seoul 998, Incheon 514, Daegu 473, Busan 322, Gwangju 311, Gyeongbuk 279, Chungnam 266, Daejeon 188, Gyeongnam 156, Jeonnam 151, Jeonbuk 149, Gangwon 139, Chungbuk 98, Sejong 38, Jeju 32, and Ulsan 16.