New cases fall for 3rd day; gov't to lift social distancing rules

The departure area of Terminal 1 at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, is seen in this April 12 photo. Yonhap

Daily COVID-19 cases continued to fall for a third consecutive day Thursday to around 125,000, as the government deciding to remove all social distancing rules except mask mandates amid the slowing Omicron variant wave.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 125,846 new infections, including 14 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 16,104,869.

Thursday's total marks a decline since Tuesday's 210,743, as the Omicron wave has passed its peak after a record high infection tally of more than 620,000, March 17.

The death toll came to 20,616, up 264 from Thursday, for a fatality rate of 0.13 percent.

The number of critically ill patients reached 999, up 37 from the previous day. (Yonhap)