Daily COVID-19 cases climbed over 16-thousand to hit a new high on Friday amid the rapid spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant. 

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency(KDCA) said 16-thousand-96 cases were registered throughout Thursday, including 202 cases from overseas. The total caseload rose to 793-thousand-582. 

The daily tally jumped by over 15-hundred from a day ago. From a week ago, it is up by 93-hundred and is three-point-five times more than two weeks ago. It remains above ten-thousand for the third straight day ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday. 

Despite the spike in infections, the number of critical cases fell by 34 to 316, remaining in the 300s for the fourth straight day. The number of critical cases and deaths, however, could rise in two or three weeks.
  
Twenty-four people died of the virus on Thursday, raising the death toll to six-thousand-678. The fatality rate dropped to zero-point-84 percent.

As of 5 p.m. Thursday, the occupancy rate of ICU beds for COVID-19 patients nationwide stood at 19 percent.