SEOUL (REUTERS, AFP) - South Korea's Parliament explored ways on Wednesday (Jan 9) to allow people who have caught Covid-19 to cast their ballot in next month's presidential election, as the number of new cases spiralled to nearly 50,000 for the first time.

South Korea will elect its next president on March 9, but concerns about potential Covid-19-related disruptions are growing as daily cases skyrocket due to the spread of the highly infectious Omicron variant.

The election watchdog planned to introduce a proposal on Wednesday to the National Assembly to amend the Public Official Election Act enabling in-person voting for Covid-19 patients after 6pm on March 5 and 9.

The current rules effectively ban people who are diagnosed with a contagious disease after the March 4 to 5 early voting period due to mandatory isolation policy.

Both the ruling and opposition parties have called for allowing the patients to vote from 6pm to 9pm, and an agreed proposal was expected to be put up for a vote on Monday.

The ruling Democratic Party also called for mail-in voting for the patients, while the main opposition People Power Party suggested setting up special polling stations for them.

South Korea's daily number of new cases hit a record high of 49,567 for Tuesday, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

The daily tally has more than doubled in less than a week, and could reach up to 170,000 later this month, the KDCA said.

President Moon Jae-in said on Tuesday there needed to be a measure to ensure all voters can exercise their right to vote.

South Korea, with a 52 million population, has largely been a Covid-19 mitigation success story, with 1,131,239 total infections and 6,943 deaths, thanks largely to masks, distancing and aggressive testing and tracing.

Dropping a vaunted strategy 

But the government said on Wednesday that it was dropping its vaunted “trace, test and treat” programme as a surge in Omicron cases threatens to overwhelm the country’s healthcare system. 

At the start of the pandemic in 2020, South Korea was hit by one of the worst early outbreaks of the disease outside China but brought it under control with mass testing and aggressive contact tracing.

The strategy earned the country widespread praise, but Seoul has now decided to drop the system after surpassing one million infections over the weekend due to the rapid spread of Omicron.

The “trace, test and treat” approach is “difficult to operate due to limited resources” and has “excessively high social and economic costs”, said Sohn Young-rae, a senior health official.

A new set of measures to manage the virus is taking effect in stages starting this month, and will refocus resources on the most vulnerable, health officials said.

The aim is to diagnose and treat high-risk groups to “prevent the collapse of the medical system and the deterioration of social and economic functions”, Sohn added.

Authorities will be prioritising tests for people aged 60 or older.

Previously, anyone testing positive was sent to a government centre for treatment and quarantine, but now asymptomatic patients are being told to stay at home.

Around 85 per cent of the country’s 52 million population have been double vaccinated, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

The country has also extended strict distancing curbs until Feb 20, including a 9pm curfew for restaurants, cafes and bars.