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| People wait to undergo COVID-19 tests at a makeshift testing station in Seoul, Sept. 28. Yonhap |
Korea's new COVID-19 cases fell to around 36,000 Wednesday, hitting the lowest for a Wednesday count in 12 weeks, as the virus wave has been gradually slowing down.
The country reported 36,159 new COVID-19 infections, including 379 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 24,709,789, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.
It marked a slight fall from the previous day's 39,425. A week earlier, the figure came to 41,269.
The virus wave, triggered by the spread of a highly contagious omicron variant, has been on a decline after a resurgence in July that later peaked above 180,000 cases in mid-August.
The country reported 46 deaths from COVID-19 on Wednesday, raising the death toll to 28,318.
The number of critically ill patients came to 375, down by 26 from a day earlier, the KDCA said.
As the virus wave has subsided, the government decided to reduce the number of hospital beds reserved for COVID-19 patients in phases.
Currently, some 7,400 beds are set aside for COVID-19 patients, and some 20 percent of them are occupied. Of the total, 1,477 will be used for other general patients by Oct. 7, according to the KDCA.
"We've been able to manage the occupancy rate at around the 50 percent level even at the height of this virus wave in August. We now have greater capacity," Second Vice Health Minister Lee Ki-il said in a virus response meeting. (Yonhap)
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