‘Pandemic’s peak is over -- it’s time to prepare for normalcy’

The quarantine authorities Thursday judged that Korea was out of the peak of the Covid-19, stressing that now is the time to change the response system.

“We believe the nation to be completely out of the pandemic's peak,” said Ko Jae-young, spokesperson for the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). “The government and researchers predict the current downturn would continue for the time being.”

According to KDCA, the daily average infections stood at 404,604 in the March 13-19 period but dropped to 218,490 in April 3-9, 54 percent of the peak level.

is time to prepare to return to normalcy while maintaining vigilance and switching to a new quarantine response," Ko said. "The most important task is to minimize the severity, death, and health risks among high-risk groups.” However, he called for maintaining alert, citing the increase in re-infection cases and new and recombinant strains.

The government will hold a Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting on Friday to normalize the medical system to pre-pandemic days. It is considering lifting all restrictions on private meetings and business hours while listening to the opinion of the transition team of President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, which has put more emphasis on "speed control" in easing restrictions.

On Thursday, the KDCA confirmed 148,443 new virus cases, raising the cumulative caseload to 15,979,061.

Excluding Mondays, when the daily counts tend to drop due to fewer tests on the weekend, the tally was the lowest in about six weeks since March 1.

As the number of new cases decreases, severe cases also show a declining trend.

Critically ill patients stood at 962, down 52 from the previous day, marking the first time that the number of daily severe cases dropped down to triple digits in 38 days.

However, the number of Covid-19 deaths, which showed a decreasing trend on Tuesday and Wednesday, rebounded significantly, as an additional 318 people died, lifting the death toll to 20,352, with a fatality rate of 0.13 percent.

The government is expected to announce adjustments in social distancing Friday toward a return to normalcy.

Among the antivirus measures expected to be lifted are the 10-person cap on private gatherings and the midnight business hour curfew on eateries and cafes.

Easing the outdoor mask mandate is also being discussed, although health authorities have remained cautious about the mask-wearing rule.

As of Thursday, 32.95 million people have received booster shots or 64.2 percent of the country's population. The number of fully vaccinated people also came to 44.51 million, representing 86.8 percent of Koreans, the KDCA said.

The government has started providing the fourth jab of the virus for people aged 60 and older from Thursday.

Health authorities will provide the second boosters using mRNA (messenger ribonucleic acid) vaccines, such as Pfizer and Moderna, for older adults who have surpassed 120 days after receiving the third shot. If they wish, those eligible can also receive Novavax's vaccine.

Considering the interval between vaccinations, the government estimates that the number of subjects for the fourth vaccination will be about 16.66 million as of this month, 1.13 million people in May, and 440,000 people after June.