People stand in line to get COVID-19 tests at a testing site in Songpa Ward in Seoul on Saturday. (Yonhap)
Seoul's new daily coronavirus cases hit an all-time high again Saturday amid growing concerns of the new omicron variant.
The capital city reported a record high 2,273 new daily cases -- 2,266 local infections and seven from overseas -- bringing the total caseload to 163,146, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
The daily caseload, counted Friday, marks the highest amount since the country reported its first COVID-19 case in January last year and is five cases more than the previous record of 2,268 set Wednesday.
The latest tally was also up 174 from the 2,099 reported Friday and 385 from the 1,888 recorded a week ago.
Seoul's new daily coronavirus cases topped 1,000 for the first time on Sept. 24, when 1,221 new patients were confirmed. After staying below the mark for some time, the number again soared to 1,004 on Nov. 2. Since then, the capital has set seven new daily records.
The city's daily number of COVID-19 deaths also hit a record high of 30 to bring its total to 1,178. (Yonhap)
