New COVID-19 cases down despite holidays

Flower stalls in Namdaemun market in Seoul are crowded with people buying flowers, May 6. Yonhap

New COVID-19 cases fell for Sunday, despite increased outdoor activities during multiple holidays.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 20,601 new infections, including 19 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 17,564,999.

The tally is down from 40,064 recorded for Saturday and 39,600, Friday.

The daily count tends to fall over the weekend due to fewer tests before rising toward the end of the week.

The KDCA reported 40 additional deaths, bringing the total to 23,400 for a fatality rate of 0.13 percent; while the number of critically ill patients came to 421, little changed from 423 a day earlier.

Last week, the government lifted its outdoor mask mandate, except for large gatherings of 50 or more, as a move toward returning to normalcy.

Family and religious gatherings increased last week as Children's Day fell, Thursday, and Parents' Day and Buddha's Birthday, Sunday.

Daily infections have been on a downward trend in recent weeks after peaking at over 620,000 in mid-March amid the spread of the Omicron variant. (Yonhap)