New COVID-19 cases below 400,000 for 4th day despite omicron wave

People wait in line to take a COVID-19 test at a makeshift testing center in front of Seoul Station, March 26. Yonhap

Korea's new daily COVID-19 cases stayed below 400,000 for the fourth consecutive day Saturday, although the highly transmissible Omicron variant continues to spread across the nation amid eased antivirus curbs.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 318,130 new infections, including 43 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 11,162,232.

Saturday's tally is down from 335,580 reported the previous day, with the daily caseload being on a constant slide since Tuesday when the figure came to 490,844.

The death toll was 282, down 41 from Friday, for a fatality rate of 0.13 percent; while the number of critically ill patients came to 1,216, up from the previous day's 1,164, the KDCA said.

As the country is experiencing its worst virus wave with the Omicron variant, the government has shifted away from rigorous contact tracing and treatment, and focused on dealing with seriously ill patients and preventing deaths.

It has also relaxed some antivirus curbs in efforts to regain normalcy and support small businesses and self-employed people hit hard by the pandemic. The current eight-person cap on private gatherings and the 11 p.m. business curfew are supposed to be in place until April 3.

Starting Sunday, the government lifted the restriction on purchasing COVID-19 self-test kits to five from one supplier, which had been enforced since last month in the wake of a supply crunch.

The authorities began administering MSD's oral pill, Lagevrio, Saturday for patients with underlying illnesses or symptoms that prevented them from taking Pfizer's Paxlovid or other treatments.

As of Sunday, 32.63 million people out of the total population, or 63.6 percent, had received booster shots. The number of fully vaccinated people came to 44.47 million, representing 86.7 percent, the KDCA said. (Yonhap)