coronavirus-additional cases

▲ A man boards a bus in Seoul without wearing a face mask, in this file photo taken March 20, 2023. (Yonhap)

coronavirus-additional cases

S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases above 10,000 for 5th day

SEOUL, April 1 (Yonhap) -- South Korea reported slightly over 10,000 new COVID-19 cases for the fifth consecutive day Saturday as the country is adapting to the idea of the virus becoming endemic and is making efforts toward returning to normalcy.

The country reported 10,523 new COVID-19 infections, including 12 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 30,829,827, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said.

Saturday's tally is almost on par with the previous day's 10,368 and a slight decrease from Thursday's 11,032, keeping a steady trend in the virus curve.

The country added five more COVID-19 deaths, raising the death toll to 34,270.

The number of critically ill patients came to 142, up from the previous day's 139.

The steady virus trend came as South Korea is preparing for the next post-pandemic phase, in which it will treat the disease as endemic and further remove antivirus restrictions in efforts toward returning to normalcy.

Health authorities said they plan to shorten the mandatory COVID-19 isolation period to five days from the current seven. The new measure is likely to come into force in early May.

Last week, South Korea lifted the mask mandate on public transportation. Still, the mask mandate remains in place for medical facilities, pharmacies and other infection-prone places.

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