Patients crowd a pediatric clinic in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, on Monday. (Yonhap)
Patients crowd a pediatric clinic in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, on Monday. (Yonhap)

South Korea is in the throes of the flu season, with 73.9 suspected flu cases per 1,000 outpatients at 300 surveyed medical institutions, a sharp rise of 136 percent from last week’s 31.1, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on Monday. This figure marks the highest percentage of cases since 2016, when it reached 86.2, approaching peak flu season levels from previous years.