New COVID-19 cases rebound to 40,000s amid relaxed virus curbs
A health worker conducts a COVID-19 test at a testing site in front of Seoul Station, May 5. Yonhap
New COVID-19 cases bounced back to the 40,000s for Saturday, but overall, daily cases are widely seen to be on a downward trend even after the lifting of almost all antivirus curbs.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 40,064 new infections, including 16 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 17,544,398.
The tally is up from 26,714 for Thursday and 39,600, Friday.
Daily infections have been on the downward trend in recent weeks after peaking at over 620,000 in mid-March due to the fast spread of the Omicron variant.
The country reported 83 more deaths, bringing the total to 23,360, the KDCA said, for a fatality rate of 0.13 percent; while the number of critically ill patients came to 423, slightly up from 419 a day earlier.
In mid-April, Korea lifted almost all social distancing rules in a major step toward a return to pre-pandemic normalcy, after restrictions were first introduced in March 2020.
Last week, the government also removed the outdoor mask mandate after more than 18 months of implementation, except for large gatherings of 50 or more. Wearing masks indoors will be in place for some time. (Yonhap)