On Thursday, South Korea downgraded the infection level of COVID-19 to the lowest category of Class 4, which is on par with seasonal flu, as part of the country’s effort to restore the pre-pandemic normalcy. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) announced that the COVID-19 infection level transition measures, intended to bring the medical system back to its original state, took effect on the same day.
Previously, the coronavirus had been labeled as Class 2 alongside tuberculosis, measles and cholera. In January 2020, it was listed as Class 1, and then lowered to the second level in April of the same year.
From Thursday onward, the government has ceased to report the daily number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, which had been in place since the start of the pandemic. Instead, the KDCA will focus on protecting those most vulnerable to the virus and treating seriously ill patients. The mask mandate will remain in hospitals and nursing homes to protect people at higher risk of severe infection.
The government will cover part of the hospital costs for seriously ill patients through the end of this year and provide free vaccines and treatments to lessen the burden on the public. For the fourth week of August, the number of COVID-19 infections in South Korea dropped 9.4 percent from the week before, marking the second consecutive decline. The weekly cases had been increasing since the fourth week of June.