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| Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, bustles with travelers, June 3. Yonhap |
New COVID-19 cases inched down for Friday as the country works to return to pre-pandemic normalcy.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 12,048 infections, including 41 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 18,153,851.
The daily tally is down from 12,542 for Thursday and from 14,396 a week earlier.
Daily infections have shown a downward trend after posting an all-time high of over 620,000 in mid-March.
The KDCA recorded nine additional deaths, down from 17 the previous day for a fatality rate of 0.13 percent; while the number of critically ill patients stood at 141, down from 160 the previous day, the KDCA said.
Of the 12,007 locally transmitted cases, Gyeonggi Province accounted for 2,745, Seoul reported 2,254, and Incheon, 40 kilometers west of the capital, 518.
As of midnight Friday, 44.6 million, or 86.9 percent of the population, had completed the full two-dose vaccination protocol, and 33.32 million, or 64.9 percent, had received their first booster shots. More than 4.17 million people have had their second booster shots, the KDCA said. (Yonhap)
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