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| People wearing face masks to help curb the spread of COVID-19 walk across a pedestrian crossing during a lunch break in Seoul, April 19. AP-Yonhap |
South Korea's daily tally of new COVID-19 cases stayed below 100,000 for the third day in a row Friday as the Omicron wave continues to gradually subside.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 75,449 infections, including 29 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 16,830,469.
The new daily total is down 5,609 cases from a day earlier and down 32,467 from the previous week, marking the lowest number for a Friday since Feb. 11.
The Omicron wave has been steadily declining after reaching a peak of 621,178 cases March 17.
The death toll came to 22,024, up 151 from the previous day for a fatality rate of 0.13 percent; while the number of critically ill patients came to 738, down 95.
Of the locally transmitted infections, Gyeonggi Province reported 18,441, Seoul added 12,352, and the southern city of Daegu, 3,966.
As of midnight Friday, 44.53 million, or 86.8 percent of the 52 million population, had been fully vaccinated, and 33.06 million, or 64.4 percent, had received their first COVID-19 booster shots, the KDCA said. (Yonhap)
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