People check in for flights to Shanghai at Terminal 1 of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, on June 3, 2022. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, June 5 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s daily new coronavirus cases have fallen below 10,000, health authorities said Sunday amid the country’s push to return to pre-pandemic normalcy.
A total of 9,835 COVID-19 infections, including 48 cases from overseas, were confirmed nationwide the previous day, bringing the total caseload to 18,163,686, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
The daily count is down from 12,048 announced on Saturday. Usually, there are fewer tests conducted on weekends and holidays.
Daily infections in the nation have shown a downward trend after posting an all-time high of over 620,000 in mid-March.
The death toll rose to 20 on Sunday from nine a day earlier, with the fatality rate at 0.13 percent. The number of critically ill patients also declined to 136 from 141, the KDCA said.
As of 9 p.m. Sunday, the country had added 4,827 new cases, nearly half of 9,385 cases reported from the same time a day earlier, according to local governments and health authorities. It is also 1,129 cases fewer than the figure registered at the same time a week ago.
In recent weeks, health authorities have taken a series of measures to return to normalcy as the pandemic wanes.
On June 1, the government began to shut down most makeshift COVID-19 testing stations across the country. It plans to increase the number of private clinics and local hospitals designated for the virus treatment.
This photo taken June 2, 2022, shows cars at the long-term parking lot at the Terminal 1 of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, amid eased COVID-19 travel restrictions. (Yonhap)
In its latest measures announced Friday, the government said it will lift a seven-day quarantine mandate for unvaccinated arrivals from overseas on June 8.
The move is part of the government’s efforts to restore pre-pandemic normalcy and in line with border reopenings in other countries.
Despite the lifting, international arrivals are still required to take one polymerase chain reaction test within three days of their entry into South Korea.
Moreover, the government said it will also fully normalize the number of international flights and lift the curfew for arrivals at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, on Wednesday.
Rapid antigen tests that had been required for inbound travelers by the end of the first week of arrival are now a recommendation.
Of the 9,787 locally transmitted cases, Seoul accounted for 1,719 cases, with its surrounding Gyeonggi Province reporting 2,189 cases. There were also 398 additional infections in Incheon, 40 kilometers west of the capital city.
As of Saturday, 44.59 million, or 86.9 percent of the population, had completed the full two-dose vaccinations, and 33.3 million, representing 64.9 percent, had received their first booster shots, the KDCA said.
More than 4.1 million people, or 8.1 percent, had gotten their second booster shots, the health agency said.
(Yonhap)
