Omicron seems less likely to cause serious illness or death compared to the delta variant that hit the country hard in December and January, but hospitalizations have been creeping up amid the greater scale of outbreak. The strain on the hospital system is likely to worsen in the coming weeks, considering the time lags between infections, hospitalizations and deaths. While nearly 800 virus patients were in serious or critical conditions, Deputy Health Minister Lee Ki-il said the country wasn't in immediate danger of running out of hospital beds, with nearly half of the 2,700 intensive care units designated for COVID-19 treatment still available.