Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum confirmed again on Friday that the Omicron wave’s peak would come around mid-March when the daily Covid-19 cases are likely to reach about 250,000.

“What’s clear is that we are getting close to the peak,” Kim said while presiding over a daily meeting. “I can say that the peak is coming faster than expected.”  

The prime minister noted that Korea’s core quarantine indexes, including the number of severely ill people, death toll, and the hospital bed occupancy rate, are showing stable trends compared with other countries that faced similar situations. Essential social functions, such as healthcare, transport, education, and national security, are also working without shaking, he added.

Kim expressed gratitude to quarantine officials for their strenuous efforts. He then said the government would further ease rules on mandatory isolation for unvaccinated people to reduce the administrative burden for health authorities from next month. 

Currently, seven-day isolation is a must for unvaccinated people who live with virus patients. However, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, it will allow self-monitoring starting next month regardless of their vaccination record.

It will also lift rules on mandatory virus tests for quarantined family members. Instead of rigorous polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests twice to exit isolation, the authorities will recommend them to undergo two rounds of tests, including one with a self-testing kit, the KDCA said.

“We have to decide where to concentrate our resources. Our priority is to help patients receive proper treatment and carry out follow-up measures,” said Park Young-jun, a controller at the Central Disaster Management Headquarters.

On Friday, Korea reported 165,890 new Covid-19 infections, including 165,749 local cases, raising the total caseload to 2,665,077, according to the KDCA.

It is slightly down from the previous day's 170,015. Daily infections surpassed the 100,000 level for the first time last week and soared to a record high of 171,442 on Wednesday.

The number of critically ill patients grew to 655 on Friday from the previous day's 581. Compared with a week earlier, the figure surged about 70 percent.

The country added 94 more Covoid-19 deaths, more than doubling in a week. The death toll came to 7,783, and the fatality rate was 0.29 percent.

The government plans to continue to focus on dealing with severe cases and preventing deaths to effectively handle the Omicron wave under the current medical system, citing the milder severity of the variant.

Instead of rigorous contact tracing and treatment, the government opted for an enhanced at-home treatment and self-diagnosis scheme.

The number of patients receiving at-home treatment hit another high of 651,081.

Amid a manpower shortage, the government also adopted a new guideline that allows medical workers to return to work after three days of isolation following their infection, even though they do not have proof of negative test results. The health authorities said their return is possible when they have no symptoms.

It also plans to send 3,000 officials of central government agencies and 1,000 military members to public health care centers to support at-home treatment patients and other administrative roles.

As of Friday, 31.0 million people, or 60.4 percent of the country's 52-million population, had received booster shots. The number of fully vaccinated people came to 44.33 million, accounting for 86.4 percent.

The government has called for the people to get vaccinated, as a booster shot reduces chances of developing severe cases and deaths from Covid-19 by more than 80 percent under the current wave.

On Sunday, Korea will bring in additional Paxlovid antiviral treatment pills made by U.S. drugmaker Pfizer for 41,000 people, which is part of the medication that the country has secured for 762,000 people, KDCA said.

Pills for 32,000 people have been brought in and 17,660 patients had taken the drugs as of Thursday since the beginning of its prescription in mid-February. The pills are available for those aged 60 and older, people with compromised immune systems, and those in their 40s and 50s with underlying diseases. Patients are administered three Paxlovid pills twice daily for five days.