▲ Medical workers talk to each other while pointing to calendars for 2022, the Year of the Tiger in the Chinese zodiac, as they prepare to administer coronavirus tests at a screening clinic in the southwestern city of Gwangju on Dec. 30, 2021. (Yonhap)

coronavirus-additional cases

Daily virus cases stay below 4,000 for 2nd straight day amid tighter antivirus curbs

SEOUL, Jan. 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's daily coronavirus cases stayed below 4,000 for the second straight day Monday as the country has extended the enforcement of its tighter social distancing measures for two more weeks to stem a surge in infections and the spread of the omicron variant.

The country added 3,129 new COVID-19 infections, including 2,993 local infections, raising the total caseload to 642,207, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

This marked the second straight day that the daily cases fell below 4,000 following 3,833 infections reported Sunday.

South Korea reported 36 more COVID-19 deaths, raising the death toll to 5,730, the KDCA said.

The number of critically ill COVID-19 patients came to 1,015, down nine from a day earlier. Critical cases have stayed above 1,000 for 14 consecutive days, with their all-time high hitting 1,151 on Wednesday.

Weekend infection figures are usually smaller than those on weekdays in part due to less testing, but the pace of the spread of the virus appears to be slowing down slightly recently as the government has maintained tighter social distancing curbs.

In early November, the government eased long-enforced restrictions on private gatherings and business operations as part of efforts to return to normalcy in phases under the "living with COVID-19" scheme.

The daily cases, however, soared to a record high of 7,848 on Dec. 15, prompting the government to reimpose antivirus regulations days later for two weeks.

The restrictions were originally supposed to end Sunday but the government has extended the enforcement of those rules, including a four-person cap on private gatherings across the nation and a 9 p.m. business hour curfew on cafes and restaurants, for two more weeks through Jan. 16.

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