S. Korea reports over 200,000 COVID-19 infections on Monday for 4th consecutive day

신규확진 21만716명…위중증 환자 955명, 1천명 육박 South Korea continues to report more than two-hundred thousand coronavirus cases a day, but the authorities say the situation is still manageable for the country's medical system. But they are planning to add more hospital beds because of what they say will be an inevitable increase in severe cases. Our Kim Cheong-ah has the latest. With the fast-spreading Omicron variant raging across the nation, South Korean health authorities have assessed last week as being the highest risk level for COVID-19 on the five-tier scale. This is one level higher than the previous week. The country reported 210-thousand-716 new COVID-19 infections on Monday, with the number hovering over the 200-thousand mark for the fourth day in a row. Critical cases were up 70 from the previous day at 955. With 139 more deaths, the death toll rises to 9-thousand-96. Meanwhile, health minister Kwon Duk-cheol says that... the nation's medical system is currently in the "manageable range." Omicron is more contagious but less fatal and so health authorities have said that the hospital bed occupancy rate for seriously ill COVID-19 patients currently stands at 59-point-8 percent. But the peak hasn't come yet, with the KDCA having forecast the current wave to peak in around mid-March at some 350-thousand daily cases. With that the government will be strengthening its response, announcing plans for over a thousand beds to be added at hospitals and local clinics. In particular, there are plans to obtain 250 more beds for pregnant women and 600 more for dialysis patients. Also, from today, 330-thousand pregnant women will be given ten self-testing kits each. Kim Cheong-ah, Arirang News. #COVID19 #infection #measures 📣 Arirang News(Facebook) :   / arirangtvnews   📣 Arirang News(Twitter) :   / arirangtvnews   📣 News Center(YouTube) :    / newscenter_arirangtv   2022-03-07, 17:00 (KST)