Visitors walk through a garden of blooming royal azaleas in the city of Gunpo, 24 kilometers south of Seoul, on April 21, 2023, ahead of an annual royal azalea festival at the site that will run from April 28-30. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, April 21 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s new coronavirus cases stayed at the 10,000 level for the fourth consecutive day Friday, as the COVID-19 pandemic has loosened its grip on the country for months now.
The country reported 13,596 cases, including 21 imported cases, bringing the total caseload to 31,053,459, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.
Daily infections fell to 4,946 cases Monday after staying above 10,000 for the previous six days. The daily caseload bounced back to over 10,000 on Tuesday.
The Friday figure went up by around 1,900 cases from a week ago and up by around 2,800 cases from two weeks ago, in a slight uptick in infections amid eased curbs.
The country added seven COVID-19 deaths, raising the death toll to 34,408. The number of critically ill patients came to 142, up from 136 the previous day, the KDCA said.
In March, South Korea lifted most of its virus restrictions, including the mask mandate on public transportation.
In another step to return to pre-pandemic normalcy, the government plans to shorten the mandatory COVID-19 isolation period to five days from the current seven next month.
(Yonhap)
