Korea's new COVID-19 cases drop below 400,000

People wait in line for a COVID-19 test at a pop-up screening clinic near Seoul Station in Seoul, March 20. Yonhap

Korea's new COVID-19 cases were below 400,000 for a second straight day Saturday but concerns remain high that infections could spike again after government eases social distancing rules this week.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 334,708 new infections, including 22 from overseas, raising the total caseload to 9,373,646.

The latest tally was down from the previous day's daily cases of 381,454. It also marked a sharp drop from the all-time high of 621,281 reported for Wednesday.

It is still uncertain as to whether daily infections have been trending down, given that cases recorded over the weekend tend to decline due to fewer tests.

The total death toll came to 12,428, up 327 from Saturday for fatality rate of 0.13 percent. The tally was higher than 319 deaths reported a day earlier and represented the second highest following 429 logged Wednesday.

Elderly people made up most of the latest death toll, with those aged 80 or older registering 66.4 percent. Those in their 60s and 70s came in at 8.3 percent and 21.4 percent, respectively.

The number of critically ill patients stood at 1,033, down from 1,049 the previous day.

Despite recent letups, concerns lingered that daily infections could spike again as the government is set to ease social distancing rules this week as part of efforts to help small merchants and business owners taking the brunt of the pandemic due to less foot traffic and consumption.

Starting Monday, the government will raise the limit on private gatherings to eight people from the current six while maintaining the 11 p.m. business curfew.

As the government predicts the spread of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus will likely peak this week, it is considering a further easing of restrictions.

Those measures are the latest in a series of steps to ease tough social distancing rules despite the still rampant spread of the highly transmissible variant.

Since March 1, the government has suspended the enforcement of the vaccine pass system at restaurants and cafes over the lack of staff to handle the mandatory requirement of presenting proof of being vaccinated.

In the face of the surging infections and overwhelmed hospital capacity, the government has also turned its focus away from preventing people from getting infected toward treating seriously ill patients.

It requires most infected people to receive treatment at home for a week and allows them to go out without presenting their health status, such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test results.

The number of people receiving such treatment stood at 2,146,951 as of early Sunday, the KDCA said.

Of the domestic cases, Gyeonggi Province reported 88,479, Seoul saw 65,870, while the western port city of Incheon recorded 19,149.

Those aged 60 or older, deemed to be a highly at-risk age group, accounted for 20.3 percent, with those aged 18 or younger making up 25.2 percent.

As of Saturday, 32.37 million people out of the 52 million population, or 63.1 percent, had received booster shots. Fully vaccinated people came to 44.46 million, or 86.6 percent, the KDCA said. (Yonhap)