The number of flu patients as well as hospitalizations for acute respiratory infections are on the rise.

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, 14-point-five out of every one thousand outpatients showed suspected flu symptoms in the week from March 26 to April 1, up from 13-point-two the previous week.

This figure surged to 60-point-seven in the last week of 2022 after which it waned and then rebounded last month.

It appears the decline bottomed out in early March with the start of the school semester, then began a steady climb from around March 20 with the lifting of the indoor mask mandate.

Also, the number of patients suffering from acute respiratory infections involving cold-like symptoms such as runny nose, headaches, sputum and sore throat have also jumped significantly, rising one-point-nine fold in three weeks to over 18-hundred patients in the last week of March. 

Such infections are caused by the human adenovirus(HAdV), rhinovirus(HRV) and the respiratory syncytial virus(HRSV), among others.

Meanwhile on the COVID-19 front, ten-thousand-372 new cases were reported throughout Friday, some 360 fewer than the previous day and down by 151 from a week ago.