Daily COVID-19 cases remained above two-thousand for a second day as the nation is preparing for a shift to living with COVID-19. 

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency(KDCA) said Friday that two-thousand-124 infections were confirmed throughout Thursday, raising the country's accumulative caseload to 360-thousand-536.

The daily tally increased by 13 from Thursday and is 686 more than a week ago. The rise is attributed to eased distancing curbs ahead of a gradual return to normalcy next month.  

Of the new cases, two-thousand-94 were local infections, while 30 were from overseas.

The capital region accounted for 78-point-nine percent of local cases at one-thousand-652. The tally remained above one-thousand for a third straight day. Non-capital areas added 442 cases.

Nine deaths have been reported, raising the death toll to two-thousand-817. The fatality rate is zero-point-78 percent. The number of critically ill patients is down by 14 from the previous day to 331.