(LEAD) New COVID-19 cases below 10,000 for 10th day

▲ Citizens wait to receive COVID-19 tests at a testing center in southern Seoul on June 17, 2022. (Yonhap)

(LEAD) coronavirus-additional cases

(LEAD) New COVID-19 cases below 10,000 for 10th day

(ATTN: UPDATES with more details from 3rd para)

SEOUL, June 19 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's new COVID-19 cases stayed below 10,000 for the 10th straight day Sunday, with fewer tests conducted over the weekend amid the slowing spread of the virus.

The country added 6,071 infections, including 83 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 18,276,552, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.

The tally marked a fall from 7,198 on Friday and 6,842 on Saturday.

Sunday's count was also the lowest in 22 weeks since Jan. 16.

The KDCA reported 14 more deaths, raising the death toll to 24,441. The fatality rate stood at 0.13 percent.

The number of critically ill patients came to 70, down from 71 the previous day, the agency added.

The nation's coronavirus cases have been trending downward since peaking at an all-time high of over 620,000 in mid-March.

In mid-April, the government lifted most social distancing restrictions, except the mask mandate, in a major step toward returning to pre-pandemic life.

Last Friday, however, it announced a decision to extend the seven-day quarantine mandate for COVID-19 patients for four more weeks, as concerns of a resurgence of infections persist.

The mandate can be lifted when weekly deaths stay under 100 and the fatality rate falls below 0.1 percent, according to health authorities.

As of Saturday, two-dose vaccinations had been administered to 44.6 million people, or 86.9 percent of the total population, and 33.4 million, or 65 percent, had received their first booster shots. More than 4.33 million people, or 8.4 percent of the population, had their second booster shots, the KDCA said.

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