Daily new COVID-19 cases fell to about 53-hundred on Monday, with critical cases hovering at around one-thousand.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency(KDCA) said Monday that five-thousand-318 infections were reported throughout the previous day, raising the accumulated caseload to 570-thousand-417.

The daily tally dropped by 918 from the previous day and almost 500 from a week ago. The drop is attributed to fewer tests over the weekend. The number of critically ill patients marked 997, hovering at around one-thousand for the third straight day. 

The occupancy rate for intensive care unit beds allotted for critically ill patients nationwide stood at 80-point-nine percent as of 5 p.m. Sunday, with the rate for the capital region at 87-point-eight percent. 

Fifty-four more people died of the virus, raising the accumulated death toll to four-thousand-776. The fatality rate stands at zero-point-84 percent.

The number of omicron infections marked 178, unchanged from the previous day.