South Korea reported 205,333 new Covid-19 infections, including 31 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 14,983,694

Seoul: South Korea’s new coronavirus cases remained in the 200,000s for the fourth consecutive day on Friday in a downward trend that could cause health officials to lower the infectious disease level of Covid-19 amid eased social distancing rules.

The country reported 205,333 new Covid-19 infections, including 31 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 14,983,694, Yonhap news agency reported, citing the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

The public health agency reported 373 new Covid-19 deaths on Friday, up from 348 on Thursday and 371 on Wednesday, raising the death toll to 18,754.

The number of critically ill patients stood at 1,093, down 23 from the previous day.

Global Covid caseload tops 496.2 mn

The global coronavirus caseload meanwhile has topped 496.2 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 6.17 million and vaccinations to over 11.08 billion, according to Johns Hopkins University.

In its latest update on Friday morning, the University’s Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and the death toll stood at 496,272,687 and 6,170,501, respectively, while the total number of vaccine doses administered has increased to 11,084,116,706.

The US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world’s highest number of cases and deaths at 80,289,237 and 984,571 respectively, according to the CSSE.

India accounts for the second highest caseload at 43,031,958.

The other countries with over 10 million cases are Brazil (30,095,328) France (26,738,483), Germany (22,478,703), the UK (21,674,196), Russia (17,693,468), Italy (15,106,066), South Korea (14,983,694), Turkey (14,939,259), Spain (11,551,574) and Vietnam (10,070,692), the CSSE figures showed.

The nations with a death toll of over 100,000 are Brazil (661,228), India (521,530), Russia (363,455), Mexico (323,412), Peru (212,396), the UK (170,020), Italy (160,402), Indonesia (155,509), France (144,054), Iran (140,492), Colombia (139,687), Germany (131,370), Argentina (128,158), Poland (115,472), Spain (102,541) and South Africa (100,075).