New COVID-19 cases below 20,000 for 4th day as omicron wave recedes

SEOUL. KAZINFORM New COVID-19 cases stayed below 20,000 for the fourth consecutive day Sunday, as the omicron-fueled spread of the virus has slowed down in recent weeks.

The country added 12,654 new infections, including 26 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 18,080,323, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said, Yonhap reports.

It marked the lowest in 18 weeks for any Sunday and came to about half the level logged two weeks earlier.

The number of critically ill patients stood at 188, the lowest figure in more than 10 months.

The country added 19 deaths from COVID-19, bringing the total caseload to 24,158. The fatality rate stood at 0.13 percent.

South Korea has seen a gradual decrease in new virus cases over the past several weeks, after the pandemic driven by the highly transmissible omicron variant peaked in mid-March when the daily caseload spiked to over 621,000.

As of Saturday, 44.58 million, or 86.9 percent of the population, had completed the full two-dose vaccinations, and 33.29 million, representing 64.9 percent, had received their first booster shots.

More than 4.05 million people, or 7.9 percent, had gotten their second booster shots, the KDCA said.