S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases rebound to over 10,000 amid eased virus curbs

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S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases rebound to over 10,000 amid eased virus curbs

SEOUL, May 31 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's new coronavirus cases bounced back to above 10,000 on Tuesday due to increased COVID-19 tests following the weekend amid eased antivirus curbs.

The country added 17,191 new infections, including 43 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 18,103,638, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.

The daily caseload rebounded from the 6,139 cases reported Monday. The daily count tends to fall on Mondays and Sundays due to fewer tests on the weekend before rising toward the end of the week.

Monday's tally was the lowest since the 5,804 cases reported on Jan. 19 in a steady downward trend in new infections in recent months. Daily cases soared to over 621,000 in mid-March on the spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant.

The country added nine deaths from COVID-19, bringing the total caseload to 24,176. The fatality rate stood at 0.13 percent. The number of critically ill patients rose by two to 180, the KDCA said.

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