SOUTH KOREA, DENMARK: South Korea's daily coronavirus case numbers rose to a new high on Thursday (Dec 2), as the authorities halted quarantine exemptions for fully vaccinated inbound travellers for two weeks in a bid to fend off the Omicron variant.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 5,266 cases for Wednesday, a day after the daily tally rose above 5,000 for the first time amid concerns over a sharp rise in patients with severe symptoms.
South Korea will require a 10-day quarantine for all inbound travellers for two weeks starting on Friday, halting exemptions given earlier to fully vaccinated people, the KDCA said.
The measure came after South Korea confirmed its first five cases of the Omicron variant late on Wednesday, including a fully vaccinated couple who arrived last week from Nigeria, followed by two of their family members and a friend.
It will now add Nigeria to the list, effective from Friday, while suspending direct flights from Ethiopia starting on Saturday, the KDCA said. Meanwhile, Denmark reported a record number of new daily coronavirus infections with 5,120 new COVID-19 cases.
That accounts for 2.6 per cent of the total number tested during the 24-hour period.
The number of hospitalisations and deaths remain well below a peak of a year ago, thanks to vaccines.
Denmark’s infectious disease authority said in a separate statement that it had registered an additional two cases of Omicron, bringing the total number to six. Five cases were connected to travels in South Africa and one in Qatar.
- PTI
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