Daily new COVID-19 cases in South Korea fell to the 500s on Friday.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency(KDCA) said on Friday that 561 new cases were detected throughout Thursday to raise the country's cumulative total to 134-thousand-678. 

The daily figure dropped by about 80 from the previous day, but the drop is partly due to fewer tests on Wednesday, which was Buddha's Birthday, a public holiday.

With continued cluster outbreaks and the spread of highly transmittable COVID-19 variants, the government on Friday decided to extend the current social distancing measures for three more weeks. 

Of the new cases, 542 were local infections, while 19 were imported.

About two-thirds of the new local cases came from the greater metro area, with 171 in Seoul, 161 in Gyeonggi Province and 12 in Incheon. 

Other parts of the nation added 198 cases, including 40 in South Chungcheong Province. 

Six more deaths have been reported, bringing the death toll to one-thousand-922. The fatality rate stands at one-point-43 percent. The number of critically ill patients dropped by four to 147.