New COVID-19 cases fall below 200,000 in 5 days amid downward trend

▲ Outbound passengers check in for their flights at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, on April 7, 2022, amid eased social distancing rules. (Yonhap)

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New COVID-19 cases fall below 200,000 in 5 days amid downward trend

SEOUL, April 9 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's new coronavirus cases fell below 200,000 on Saturday as the spread of the omicron variant slowed down after peaking last month.

The country reported 185,566 new COVID-19 infections, including 40 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 15,169,189, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.

Daily infections have been on the decline in recent weeks after reporting an all-time high of over 620,000 on March 17. Authorities are expected to lower the pandemic's infectious disease level to reflect the downward trend.

A total of 338 died from COVID-19 on Saturday, raising the death toll to 19,092, with the fatality rate at 0.13 percent. The number of critically ill patients fell by six to 1,099 from a day earlier, the KDCA said.

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