Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Friday that the country is expected to see the peak of the omicron wave in mid-March with daily cases hovering around 250,000.

South Korea's daily virus infections surpassed the 100,000 level for the first time last week, and soared to a record high of 171,452 on Wednesday due to the highly transmissible omicron variant of COVID-19.

"Some experts are saying that it may hit the peak faster than expected," Kim said during a COVID-19 response meeting in Seoul. "Although we do not know exactly when, it is certainly nearing the peak."

Kim earlier emphasized that people should not be scared over the number of new COVID-19 cases, stressing that the fatality rate and the number of critical patients are being managed stably, while data show the omicron variant is less virulent.

South Korea moved onto an enhanced at-home treatment system to focus its medical resources on serious virus patients and those at high risk of infection amid soaring cases.

Starting Tuesday, Kim said that unvaccindated family members living together with virus patients won't have to go into isolation, and they will instead self-monitor, including taking virus tests periodically.

Previously, self-monitoring was applied to only those who completed vaccination.

Kim said it was a "big burden" for health authorities to manage each family member of virus patients.

"It is urgent to reduce excessive burden of pubic health centers that in the front line of the virus fight," Kim said. "To support them, we will send 3,000 public workers from Monday to each region. Military manpower of 1,000 people will also be dispatched." (Yonhap)