Seoul, Mar 7 (IANS): South Korea's daily coronavirus cases stayed above 200,000 for the fourth consecutive day Monday as the highly contagious omicron variant continued to fuel a surge in infections.

The country reported 210,716 new Covid-19 infections, including 210,628 local cases, raising the total caseload to 4,666,977, Yonhap news agency reported, citing the figures released by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

The daily tally has been declining since peaking at a record-high of 266,850 cases Friday. The daily caseload surpassed 200,000 for the first time Wednesday since the country reported the first virus case in January 2020.

The omicron variant has caused an unprecedented spike in Covid-19 cases in recent weeks. The total virus cases passed four million Saturday, just five days after reaching the three million mark. The country crossed the one million mark early last month, the KDCA said.

While omicron causes less severe symptoms than the delta variant, the sheer size of the omicron surge escalated Covid-19 deaths and hospitalizations.

The country added 139 more Covid-19 deaths, bringing the death toll to 9,096. The fatality rate was 0.19 per cent.

Critical cases rose to 955, up 70 from a day ago. For the week ending Saturday, the corresponding tally was 761.