A temporary COVID-19 test center in Seoul Plaza in front of City Hall is being taken down on April 22, 2022. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, April 23 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s daily tally of new coronavirus cases stayed below 100,000 for the third day in a row Saturday as the omicron wave is gradually subsiding.
The country added 75,449 new COVID-19 infections, including 29 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 16,830,469, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.
The new tally is down 5,609 cases from a day earlier and down 32,467 from a week earlier. It marks the lowest number for a Saturday since Feb. 12.
The omicron wave has been steadily declining after bringing the country’s daily infection tally to its peak of 621,178 cases on March 17.
The death toll from COVID-19 came to 22,024, up 151 from the previous day. The fatality rate was 0.13 percent. The number of critically ill patients came to 738, down 95 from a day ago.
South Korea had reported 62,471 cases as of 9 p.m. Saturday, down by 11,576 from the same time the previous day. Daily cases are counted until midnight and announced the following morning.
Of the locally transmitted infections, Seoul reported 12,352 cases and its surrounding Gyeonggi Province added 18,441 cases. The southern city of Daegu identified 3,966 cases.
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)
