| An exhausted worker in a booth rests during coronavirus testing at a makeshift testing site in Seoul, July 22. AP-Yonhap |
South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases fell below 1,400 Monday due to fewer tests over the weekend, but more cases continued to pop up outside the greater Seoul area amid the summer vacation season.
The country added 1,318 COVID-19 cases, including 1,264 local infections, raising the total caseload to 190,166, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
The daily caseload was down 169 from the previous day.
The country added four more COVID-19 deaths, raising the death toll to 2,077. The fatality rate was at 1.09 percent.
Health authorities are keeping their guard up, as the country's daily cases usually go up in the middle of the week as more people get tested.
The daily caseload has remained above 1,000 since July 7, reaching as high as 1,842, due to the resurgence in the greater Seoul area with the highly transmissible delta variant.
The spread of the virus in non-Seoul regions has recently been a problem, as vacationers travel to tourist spots across the country in the summer season, with some 40 percent of newly reported cases coming from non-capital regions.
To stem the spread of the virus, South Korea extended the highest Level 4 distancing measures in the Seoul metropolitan area for another two weeks through Aug. 8. The toughest distancing restrictions ban gatherings of more than two people after 6 p.m. and place a 10 p.m. curfew on restaurants and cafes and a ban on nightclubs and other entertainment venues.
The country also decided to enforce Level 3 distancing restrictions in the non-capital areas from Tuesday until Aug. 8 to better contain the virus during the summer holiday season.
Under Level 3, cafes and restaurants can accept customers until 10 p.m. and only takeout and delivery services are available after that time. Private gatherings of more than five people are banned, while mass-gathering events can accommodate less than 50 people.
South Korea is also trying to curb rising infections particularly among those in their 20s to 40s. Transmission routes involving the age groups are unknown in many cases, as the vaccination campaign has focused largely on the elderly population and medical and social service workers.
Infections from non-capital areas accounted for 40.7 percent of the newly confirmed domestic cases, the highest portion amid the fourth wave of the pandemic. The southeastern port city of Busan and the surrounding South Gyeongsang Province reported 83 and 75 cases, respectively.
In the capital area, Seoul reported 339, while the surrounding Gyeonggi Province added 343. The western port city of Incheon confirmed 67.
Imported cases came to 54, down 11 from the day earlier.
The total number of people released from quarantine after making full recoveries was 167,375 up 990 from a day earlier.
The number of patients in critical condition came to 244, down 13 from the previous day. (Yonhap)