New virus cases fall back on Lunar New Year's Day, post-holiday virus fight in focus

SEOUL. KAZINFORM South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases retreated Friday, apparently due to fewer tests amid the Lunar New Year holiday, but health authorities are staying vigilant over a potential uptick after the traditional holiday.

The country reported 403 more COVID-19 cases, including 384 local infections, raising the total caseload to 82,837, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said, Yonhap reports.

Friday's daily caseload was sharply down from 504 cases reported the previous day, when the number of new cases surged to a 15-day high.

The drop was apparently due to fewer virus tests as health authorities conducted only 23,361 tests on Thursday, down 16,624 from the previous day.

The third wave of COVID-19 here reached its peak on Dec. 25, with the daily tally reaching 1,240, but has been showing a downward trend since.

Recently, the daily caseload has been moving in the 300-400 range due to continuing cluster infections from unauthorized religious education facilities in the central and southwestern regions.