▲ Medical workers prepare to conduct coronavirus tests at a pop-up screening clinic in front of Seoul Station on Dec. 23, 2021.

coronavirus-additional cases

New COVID-19 cases fall below 7,000 for 2nd day; critical cases hit record high

SEOUL, Dec. 24 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's new coronavirus cases fell below 7,000 on Friday for the second day in a row on the back of antivirus restrictions, but critical cases surged to a record high again.

The country added 6,233 more COVID-19 cases, including 6,163 local infections, bringing the cumulative total to 596,209, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.

Friday's tally is down from 6,918 on Thursday and sharply down from 7,434 reported on Dec. 17.

The number of critically ill patients, however, came to a fresh high of 1,084, the KDCA said, breaking the previous record high of 1,083 tallied Thursday.

The country added 56 more deaths from COVID-19, bringing the total to 5,071. The fatality rate stood at 0.85 percent, unchanged from a day earlier.

The country reported 16 new omicron variant cases, bringing the total to 262, the authorities said.

On Saturday, the government reimposed a set of revised virus restrictions across the country, which will remain in effect until Jan. 2 to stem the spread of the virus.

It marks a reversal of the government's "living with COVID-19" scheme that began early last month, with an aim to return to normalcy by relaxing virus restrictions in phased steps.

Under the new measures, the maximum size of private gatherings is limited to four people nationwide, from the previous limit of six in the capital area and eight elsewhere.

A 9 p.m. or 10 p.m. curfew is applied to businesses as well, depending on their type of service.

Of the locally transmitted cases, Seoul reported 2,324 infections and Gyeonggi Province that surrounds the capital logged 1,647 cases.

The KDCA said 80 cases came from overseas, raising the caseload to 16,670.

As of Friday, 85.5 percent of the country's 52 million people had received their first shots of COVID-19 vaccines, and 82.3 percent had been fully vaccinated, while 27.9 percent had gotten booster shots, the KDCA said.

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