Amid the ongoing rebound of new virus cases, alarm bells ringing in various corners of society herald an earlier-than-expected summer resurge. The quarantine authorities warned that if another wave comes this summer, the daily virus tally could reach 200,000.

Korea added 6,253 Covid-19 infections on Monday, bringing the total caseload to 18,395,864, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said. The nation also reported four more Covid-19 deaths, raising the death toll to 24,574. The fatality rate stood at 0.13 percent. The number of critically ill patients came to 56, up three from the previous day, the KDCA said.

Although Monday's tally declined from 10,059 the previous day, it nearly doubled from 3,423 a week ago.

Imported cases also have been growing after Korea relaxed entry rules for overseas travelers and expanded international flights. Among the newly confirmed cases, 164 came from abroad.

Quarantine officials predicted there could be 150,000-200,000 new confirmed cases per day in the event of a resurgence.

"Experts predict that the number of confirmed cases could increase to between 150,000 and 200,000 in case of a resurgence," said Park Hyang, head of the Central Disaster Management Headquarters’ Quarantine Division, during a daily task force meeting. "We are securing more hospital beds and preparing a medical system to control the situation in the event of a resurgence."

Possible factors for the resurgence cited by the government include reinfection, booster shots losing efficacy, the spread of the Omicron sub-variant, and increased travel during summer vacation.

Health experts have also expressed concerns about another possible bed shortage for Covid-19 patients.

While the government secured more than 30,000 beds during the Omicron epidemic, it has recently reduced the number of beds as it transitioned to a general medical response system.

According to the government, only 6,227 Covid-19 beds remain, including 1,486 critically ill beds.

"Since the government ordered all Covid-19 beds to be removed, none of them were left," said Lee Jae-gap, an infectious disease professor at the Hallym University Gangnam Sacred Heart Hospital. "At least, I convinced my hospital to leave two general rooms and one intensive care unit empty to treat Covid-19 patients who come to the emergency room."

However, they are being filled quickly, Lee added.

To address such concerns, the government aims to improve Covid-19 patients' access to hospital beds by utilizing hospital beds jointly in each region.

Meanwhile, the government said it decided to follow up on 10,000 Covid-19 patients for three years to confirm the aftereffects of Covid-19, also known as long covid, from next month.

The World Health Organization defines an aftereffect of Covid-19 as cases that begin within three months of the onset of the disease, with patients showing symptoms for at least two months and their illness unexplainable by another diagnosis. There are about 200 possible aftereffects, including headache, cognitive decline, fatigue, shortness of breath, hair loss, depression, anxiety, palpitations, menstrual cycle fluctuations, and muscle pain.

Although many confirmed patients recover from the sequelae quickly, the government estimates that around 20 percent of patients experience various symptoms in the mid- to long-term.

Therefore, the government's most recent study aims to analyze the development of the aftereffects of Covid-19 through observation and investigation over three years and to discover risk factors, such as underlying diseases that affect the occurrence of sequelae.

Through this research, the government plans to prepare guidelines for managing sequelae and utilize them for future infectious diseases.

As of Monday, 44.63 million, or 87 percent of the population, had completed the full two-dose vaccinations, and 33.37 million, or 65 percent, had received their first booster shots.

About 4.4 million people, or 8.6 percent of the population, had gotten their second booster shots, according to the KDCA.