S.Korea's daily COVID count tops 8,000 for first time amid Omicron spread

South Korea's daily count of new coronavirus cases topped 8,000 for the first time on Tuesday

South Korea's daily count of new coronavirus cases topped 8,000 for the first time on Tuesday, as the highly contagious Omicron variant spreads rapidly despite the recent extension of strict social-distancing rules to slow infection, Qazet.az reports citing Reuters.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 8,571 cases for Monday, exceeding the previous peak posted in mid-December of 7,848.

The new record came amid the spread of the more transmissible but less deadly Omicron variant, which became dominant in the country last week, and despite less testing over the weekend.