The COVID-19 risk level for the nation has been assessed as "very high" for the fifth straight week.

The Central Disease Control Headquarters issued the assessment on Monday for the fourth week of December.

The capital region received the highest level for the sixth week in a row, while the risk level for non-capital areas was lowered a notch to "high." 

Positive changes were seen in some indicators such as hospital bed availability. The nationwide occupancy rate of ICU beds for critically ill COVID-19 patients edged down to 79-point-three percent last week, marking the first drop in eight weeks.

Occupancy rates in the capital area and the rest of the country also dropped slightly to 85-point-five percent and 68-point-eight percent, respectively.

The average number of daily infections in the last week also fell to 61-hundred after eight weeks of increase. Compared to the previous week, the figure is down more than ten percent.

The virus reproduction rate, or the number of infections caused by a single patient, has also dipped below one for the first time in eight weeks, recording zero-point-98 last week.