Daily COVID Infections Surge Sharply

Coronavirus infections are rising rapidly again as the daily number of new cases has nearly doubled overnight, raising fears of another resurgence.

The daily tally had hovered mostly at below 10,000 throughout the recent couple of weeks but jumped to 18,147 on Tuesday morning and 19,371 on Wednesday.

Doctors say vaccine immunity is weakening and the emergence of new variants could cause the number of daily infections to surge to 150,000 or 200,000 a day.

The BA.5 Omicron variant is causing the latest surge in infections. According to health authorities, the proportion of BA.5 infections last week stood at 24.1 percent, up from 7.5 percent in the fourth week of June.

Jung Ki-suck at Hallym University Sacred Heart Hospital said, "A sharp increase in BA.5 variant infections coinciding with weakened vaccine immunity six months after the Omicron surge could lead to a spike in infections in September and October."

The fears are shared overseas. The World Health Organization said 4.28 million coronavirus infection cases were reported around the world from June 20-26, rising for three consecutive weeks.