Daily virus cases stay below 4,000 for 3rd day
People queue for a COVID-19 test at a temporary screening clinic for the coronavirus in Seoul, Dec. 31. AP-Yonhap
New daily COVID-19 infections stayed below 4,000 for the third straight day Monday amid tightened social distancing rules, but the health authorities are on high alert after the first Omicron-linked deaths were reported a day earlier.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 3,024 new cases, including 2,889 local ones, raising the total caseload to 645,226.
The figure was down 105 from a day earlier and down 841 compared with the same day last week.
The KDCA also recorded 51 more COVID-19 deaths, raising the toll to 5,781.
The number of critically ill COVID-19 patients dropped by 42 from a day earlier to 973, falling below 1,000 for the first time in 15 days.
Daily cases are showing signs of slowing recently after the government reintroduced tough antivirus curbs.
In early November, the government eased its long-enforced pandemic-era restrictions as part of efforts to return to normalcy in phases under the "Living with COVID-19" strategy.
Daily cases, however, soared to a record high of 7,848, Dec. 15, prompting the government to re-impose antivirus regulations days later for two weeks, which were supposed to end Sunday.
The government extended the enforcement of those rules for an additional two weeks through Jan. 16. They include a four-person cap on private gatherings nationwide and a 9 p.m. business hour curfew on cafes and restaurants.
The health authorities are still on high alert, after the country reported its first Omicron-linked death cases.
Two coronavirus patients in their 90s died in Gwangju, 330 km south of Seoul, with one of them posthumously confirmed to have been infected with the Omicron variant of COVID-19 and the other suspected to have been infected.
They were the first Omicron-linked deaths in South Korea since the variant was first reported in the country, Dec 1. (Yonhap)