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| A COVID-19 testing booth is seen near Tapgol Park, Seoul, May 23. South Korea's new COVID-19 cases continued a downward trend Tuesday. Yonhap |
New COVID-19 cases continued a downward trend Tuesday, dropping more than 5,000 cases from the week before, as the Omicron-fueled surge continues to lose lost steam since peaking in mid-March.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 26,344 new infections, including 43 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 17,993,985.
Tuesday's tally went up 2.6 times from the previous day due to more virus tests; but it hit a 16-week low for a Monday and declined 24.9 percent from a week earlier, in an apparent sign of the pandemic loosening its grip on the country.
South Korea's daily caseload peaked at over 621,000, March 17, driven by the rapid spread of the Omicron variant nationwide.
The country added 19 deaths, taking the total to 24,006 for a fatality rate of 0.13 percent. The number of critically ill patients stood at 232, the KDCA said. (Yonhap)
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