New coronavirus cases under 2,000, authorities vigilant over autumn travelers
South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases fell below 2,000, Friday. Yonhap
Daily new COVID-19 infections fell below 2,000, Friday, although the health authorities are still keeping a watchful eye on a possible increase over the extended weekend.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 1,953 more coronavirus cases, including 1,924 local ones, raising the total caseload to 329,925.
After falling to 1,575 on Tuesday, the daily figure again rebounded to over 2,000 on Wednesday.
The country added six more deaths from COVID-19, raising the toll to 2,560 for a fatality rate of 0.78 percent.
The number of daily new virus cases has been above the 1,000 mark for 95 consecutive days due to sporadic infection clusters reported across the country.
The health authorities remain on alert over a further rise in new cases following the long weekend ending Monday, which is a substitute holiday for Oct. 9 Hangeul Day, which celebrates the proclamation of the Korean alphabet.
On Monday, South Korea decided to maintain the toughest social distancing rules in the greater Seoul area, home to half of the population of 51 million, for another two-week period.
Since mid-July, the greater Seoul area has been under Level 4 measures, which include business restrictions and a ban on private gatherings of three or more people after 6 p.m. in principle. Gatherings of up to six people, however, are currently allowed when at least four of them are fully vaccinated.
With the country's vaccinations gathering pace, the government is considering a gradual shift to a phase of "living with COVID-19" starting Nov. 9, under which COVID-19 is treated as an infectious respiratory disease, like seasonal influenza, with eased distancing being implemented.
The KDCA said 39.9 million people, or 77.7 percent of the population, have received their first shots of COVID-19 vaccines since February when South Korea began its inoculation campaign. The number of fully vaccinated people stood at 30 million, or 59.1 percent.
Of the locally transmitted cases, 707 were in Seoul, 629 were in the surrounding Gyeonggi Province and 131 in Incheon, west of Seoul.
The southeastern port city of Busan saw 30 new patients, the resort island of Jeju reported 26, South Gyeongsang Province added 71, and North Chungcheong Province, 64.
The number of new imported cases came to 29.
Arrivals from Uzbekistan accounted for six patients, with those from the United States at five. The figure includes South Korean nationals returning home from overseas.
The number of patients with serious symptoms across the country reached 384, up seven from the previous day, the KDCA said.
The total number of people released from quarantine after making a recovery was 294,929, up 2,838 from a day earlier.
South Korea has carried out 14,925,875 COVID-19 tests so far, including 43,677, Friday. (Yonhap)