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Euljiro Nogari Alley, a famed pub street in central Seoul, is crowded with people, April 23, after most of the COVID-19 social distancing rules were lifted earlier in the week. Yonhap |
Korea's daily new COVID-19 cases stayed below 100,000 for the fourth day in a row Saturday as the Omicron wave continues to ebb.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 64,725 new infections, including 36 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 16,895,194.
The Omicron wave has been declining after daily infections reached a peak of 621,178, March 17.
The death toll came to 22,133, up 109 from the previous day for a fatality rate of 0.13 percent; while the number of critically ill patients came to 726, down from 738.
To reflect the weakening pandemic, health authorities will downgrade COVID-19 to the second-highest level of its four-tier infectious disease control system Monday, the KDCA said.
The government lifted major COVID-19 social distancing requirements, except a mask mandate, this past Monday. The removed restrictions included a curfew on the operating hours of restaurants, cafes and other small businesses, as well as the cap on the size of private gatherings.
The eased rules will also allow eating and drinking on public transit, theaters, religious houses and indoor stadiums beginning Monday, the health agency said.
In early May, the government will also determine whether to lift the mask mandate in outdoor places, although it has said requiring masks indoors will be unavoidable for "a considerable time."
Under the changed policy, coronavirus patients will be free of mandatory self-quarantine and can receive treatment at local clinics as early as late May.
Of the locally transmitted infections, Gyeonggi Province added 15,249, Seoul reported 10,375 and the southern city of Daegu identified 3,399.
As of midnight Saturday, 44.54 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)