SOUTH Korea’s new Covid-19 cases dropped to the 200,000s for the first time in 10 days today due to fewer tests done over the weekend, but concerns remain high that infections could spike again, as the government eased social distancing rules this week.

The country reported 209,169 new Covid-19 infections, raising the cumulative number of cases to 9,582,815, Yonhap news agency quoted the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

Today’s tally marked a sharp decline from a record high of 621,281 reported Thursday. The number of new daily cases usually shrinks at the beginning of the week due to less testing over the weekend.

The death toll from Covid-19 came to 12,757, up 329 from yesterday, the KDCA said. The fatality rate was 0.13%.

The number of critically ill patients stood at 1,030, up 97 from the previous day.

Despite recent let-ups, concerns lingered that daily infections could spike again, as the government eased social distancing rules as part of efforts to help small merchants and business owners taking the brunt of the pandemic due to less foot traffic and consumption.

Starting earlier in the day, the government eased the limit on private gatherings to eight people from the previous six while maintaining the 11pm business curfew.

The measures are the latest in a series of steps to ease tough social distancing rules despite the still rampant spread of the highly transmissible Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

In the face of the surging infections and overwhelmed hospital capacity, the government has also turned its focus away from preventing people from getting infected toward treating seriously ill patients.

It requires most infected people to receive at-home treatment for a week and allows them to go out without presenting their health status, such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test results.

Also, starting earlier in the day, fully vaccinated international arrivals are required to submit their health status, such as PCR tests, and do not have to go through mandatory quarantine.

As of midnight yesterday, 32.37 million people out of the 52 million population, or 63.1%, had received booster shots. Fully vaccinated people came to 44.46 million, representing 86.6%, the KDCA said. – Bernama, March 21, 2022.