South Korea's new coronavirus cases fell below 20,000 on Friday, a day after President Yoon Suk Yeol declared an end to almost all COVID-19 restrictions in the latest step to return to pre-pandemic normalcy.
The country reported 19,989 cases, including 17 imported cases, bringing the total caseload to 31,371,675, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.
Friday's tally was down from 20,574 cases a day earlier but was higher than the previous Friday's 18,752 cases.
The country added eight COVID-19 deaths Friday, raising the death toll to 34,591.
The number of critically ill patients came to 153, down from 157 a day earlier, the KDCA said.
On Thursday, South Korea said it will lower the national crisis level for COVID-19 from "serious" to "alert" and lift almost all remaining antivirus measures in June in line with the World Health Organization's recent announcement that the virus is no longer a global health emergency.
Under the new measures, the seven-day mandatory isolation period for COVID-19 patients will be reduced to a recommendation of five days and the indoor mask mandate will be lifted everywhere except for hospitals with rooms for hospitalization.
Source: Yonhap News Agency