South Korea reported 107 new cases of the new coronavirus Saturday, slightly down from 110 new cases a day earlier, bringing the nation's total infections to 8,086, Trend reports citing Yonhap.
The 107 new cases, detected Friday, underscore the growing signs that the infections in the country are surely waning on the back of stepped-up efforts to contain the virus outbreak.
Saturday marks the third day in a row that the daily new infection tally has come down to the 100 range.
With five new deaths reported Saturday, 72 people have died so far in South Korea from the respiratory virus since the first local coronavirus infection case here was confirmed on Jan. 20, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).
The pace of daily new infections has shown signs of slowing in recent days as health authorities completed extensive testing of 210,000 Shincheonji followers who are at the center of the rapid spread, but authorities are still on high alert over new clusters of infections, including at a call center in Seoul's Guro district and the country's government complex in the administrative city of Sejong.
Of the new cases, 62 are in Daegu and six are in North Gyeongsang Province, where Daegu is located, the KCDC said. Daegu accounts for nearly 74 percent of South Korea's total infection cases.
The total number of confirmed cases in Daegu and North Gyeongsang, the two epicenters of the virus outbreak here, stood at 5,990 and 1,153, respectively.
Infection cases in the capital Seoul rose 13 to 238, and surrounding Gyeonggi Province reported 15 new cases for a total of 200.
The administrative capital Sejong posted six additional cases, bringing its total infections to 38, while cases in Busan rose by three to 103.
Since raising the virus alert level to "red," the highest level, on Feb. 23, health authorities have focused on halting the spread of the virus in Daegu and North Gyeongsang.
The World Health Organization declared Wednesday that the global coronavirus crisis is now a pandemic as the virus has spread to every continent except Antarctica.
South Korea had released 714 fully recovered novel coronavirus patients from hospitals as of Friday, up 204 from a day earlier, the KCDC said.
The number of people being checked for the virus and under quarantine came to 17,634 as of Friday, down 306 from the day before, it said. The country has tested a total of 261,335 suspected cases, the health authorities said.
Currently, there is no evidence that the new coronavirus is airborne. WHO said the virus is transmitted through droplets or close contact.