South Korea's hospitals must dedicate more beds and resources for the treatment of coronavirus patients, President Moon Jae-in has said, as serious infections hovered near record highs.

“Over the past year, we have prepared for an increase in patients by nearly doubling the number of coronavirus treatment beds and expanding home treatment, but it was not enough,” Moon's spokesperson, Park Kyung-mee, quoted him as saying.

Over the weekend, the occupancy rate of beds in intensive care for Covid-19 patients stood at nearly 88 per cent in Seoul, and more than 79pc for the country as a whole, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.

That figure is above the threshold of 75pc that health authorities had said would trigger emergency measures, according to a Reuters report.