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| Students and faculty members of Hyocheon Elementary School in Gwangju's Nam District take a COVID-19 test in the school playground, May 14, after one of the students was tested positive for the disease the previous day. Yonhap |
Daily new COVID-19 figures fell below 700 for Friday as the authorities expressed concerns about yet another uptick in cases amid a growing number of people traveling nationwide that could lead to more sporadic infection clusters.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 681 more coronavirus cases, including 661 local ones, raising the total caseload to 131,061.
The country saw more than 700 daily infections Wednesday and Thursday as sporadic outbreaks lingered across the nation.
There were three additional deaths, raising the total to 1,896.
The government started its vaccination program Feb. 26, but the inoculation drive has made little progress amid a tight supply of vaccines.
The administration earlier announced a bold plan to vaccinate 13 million people by June and achieve herd immunity by November. South Korea is currently making efforts to keep the daily figure below 1,000 through the end of June while speeding up inoculations of senior citizens.
As of Saturday, 905,420 people, or 1.8 percent of the country's population, have been fully vaccinated, receiving both doses of two-part vaccines.
A total of 3,731,221 people, or 7.3 percent, have received their first shots of COVID-19 vaccines, up 9,548 from a day earlier.
AstraZeneca's vaccine has been given to 2.04 million people, while 1.68 million have received Pfizer shots.
The KDCA is raising concerns over the spread of the virus among people enjoying vacations amid the warmer weather.
Currently, the greater Seoul area, home to more than half of the country's 52 million people, is under Level 2 social distancing, the third highest in the government's five-tier system.
Gatherings of five or more people are banned nationwide.
Of the locally transmitted cases, 253 were in Seoul, while the surrounding Gyeonggi Province accounted for 168.
Imported cases came to 20 ― among them, nine were South Koreans and 11 were foreigners ― the KDCA said.
The number of patients in serious or critical condition was 150, down three from the previous day.
People released from quarantine after making full recoveries numbered 121,282, up 887 from a day earlier. (Yonhap)
