New COVID-19 cases below 100,000; distancing rules to be lifted this week

A COVID-19 testing station near Daejeon Metropolitan City Hall is seen in this April 15 photo. Yonhap

New daily COVID-19 cases fell below 100,000, Saturday, amid a continuing slowdown in infections, and with the government set to lift major social distancing rules this week to return to pre-pandemic normalcy.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 93,001 infections, including 18 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 16,305,752.

The tally marked a drop from 107,916, Friday, and 125,846, Thursday, and is the first time it has fallen below 100,000 in nine weeks.

Daily infections have been declining since peaking at 621,178, March 17, amid the fast spread of the Omicron variant.

The death toll came to 21,092, up 203 from Friday; while the number of critically ill patients came to 893, down from 913. Critical cases have also been falling after hitting a record high of 1,315, March 31.

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Starting Monday, South Korea will lift all coronavirus distancing rules, except the mask mandate, in a major step toward a return to normal life after restrictions were first introduced in March 2020.

Curfews on restaurants, cafes and other small businesses will be completely lifted, while the limit on the size of private gatherings will also be removed from the 10-person cap.

The country also plans to downgrade the COVID-19 infectious disease level by one notch to the second-highest level of its four-tier system.

This means COVID-19 patients will not be obliged to be in quarantine and they will receive treatments at local clinics like an endemic disease. The new rule will be implemented in late May after a four-week transition period.

Health officials said although overall risks posed by the pandemic have fallen, there will be continued sporadic outbreaks down the road.

The government predicted the number of daily virus cases could hover between 50,000 and 100,000 for quite some time.

Of the locally transmitted cases, 23,117 were in Gyeonggi Province, 14,805 in Seoul, and 4,874 in Incheon, west of Seoul.

As of midnight Saturday, 44.53 million, or 86.8 percent of the 52 million population, had fully been vaccinated, and 33 million, or 64.3 percent, had received booster shots, the KDCA said. (Yonhap)

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