As of midnight Tuesday, the number of daily COVID-19 cases in South Korea has topped 20,000 for the first time since the country reported its first viral case in January of this year.

According to a statement released Wednesday by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the country gained 20,270 new COVID-19 illnesses in the first 24 hours of Tuesday owing to the rapid spread of the omicron form.

The overall number of cases was 20,111, with 20,111 being locally transmitted cases and 159 cases being imported cases.

Among the instances that have been locally transmitted are On Tuesday, the capital and surrounding areas recorded 11,600 instances, with Seoul reporting 4,186 cases, Gyeonggi Province reporting 6,018 cases, and Incheon reporting 1,396 cases.

The total number of COVID-19-related fatalities reached 6,787, an increase of 15 from the previous day. The mortality rate was 0.77 percent at the time of the survey.

The number of seriously sick COVID-19 patients reached 278 on the same day, an increase of six from the previous day.

Daily coronavirus infections in South Korea reached a record high despite the fact that fewer people were tested for COVID-19 during the Lunar New Year celebration.

In the short term, health officials anticipate that the number of daily cases will grow even higher following the break, as more individuals are likely to attend COVID-19 testing locations.

In order to combat the rapidly spreading omicron variety, the country will roll out a revamped COVID-19 response system across the country.

Starting on Thursday, the government will restrict polymerase chain reaction testing to persons who fall into certain priority categories, including as those who have had intimate contact with proven cases and those who are 60 years or older.

Other persons who come to testing facilities will be subjected to quick antigen testing. If they test positive for a fast antigen test, they may also be subjected to a polymerase chain reaction test.

Local hospitals and clinics will be permitted to offer COVID-19 patients with self-testing kits and to administer medicine as part of the country's response to the outbreak. Patients getting COVID-19 therapy in their homes will be seen by local hospitals as well.

Depending on how quickly the omicron variety spreads, health officials anticipate that the number of infected people receiving home treatment will climb to 100,000 from the current 83,000.

The government's new COVID-19 procedures were implemented when the proportion of omicron cases in the country reached more than 80% in one week, as reported by the CDC.

In the worst-case scenario, according to experts, daily infections might exceed 100,000 by the end of this month in the United States.