South Korea's omicron deaths surge amid faltering response

South Korea reached another daily record in COVID-19 deaths on Thursday as health officials reported more than 621,000 new infections

SEOUL, South Korea -- South Korea reached another daily record in COVID-19 deaths on Thursday as health officials reported more than 621,000 new infections, underscoring a massive omicron surge that has been worse than feared and threatens to buckle an over-stretched hospital system.

The 429 deaths reported in the latest 24 hours were nearly 140 more than the previous one-day record set on Tuesday. Fatalities may further rise in coming weeks considering the intervals between infections, hospitalizations and deaths.

The 621,266 new coronavirus cases diagnosed by health workers were also a record daily jump, shattering Wednesday’s previous high of 400,624. That pushed the national caseload to over 8.2 million, with more than 7.4 million cases added since the start of February.

The outbreak has been significantly bigger than what had been forecast by government health authorities, who maintain that omicron is nearing its peak. Officials have tried to calm public fears amid concerns about a faltering pandemic response, saying that omicron is no more deadly than seasonal influenza for vaccinated people and less dangerous than the delta strain that hit the country hard in December and early January.