Total number of coronavirus infections in South Korea reached 10 million, or nearly 20 percent of its population, according to the authorities on Wednesday, as surging severe cases and deaths increasingly put a strain on crematories and funeral homes nationally.

The country has been battling a record COVID-19 wave driven by the highly infectious Omicron variant even as it largely scrapped its once aggressive tracing and quarantine efforts and eased social distancing curbs.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 490,881 cases for Tuesday, the second highest daily tally after it peaked at 621,205 on March 16. The total caseload rose to 10,427,247, with 13,432 deaths, up 291 a day before.

The country's infection and death rates are still far below those recorded elsewhere, as almost 87 percent of its 52 million residents are fully vaccinated and 63 percent have received booster shots.

The number of critically ill patients has been hovering above 1,000 over the past two weeks, but it could go up to 2,000 in early April, another health ministry official Park Hyang said. Around 64.4 percent of the intensive care unit beds are occupied as of Wednesday, compared with some 59 percent two weeks earlier.

(With input from agencies)