Daily COVID-19 cases stayed in the 200-thousands for a third day, with the number of critical cases and deaths remaining high.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said Thursday that 224-thousand-820 infections were reported throughout the previous day, including 40 cases from overseas. The total caseload came to 14 million-778-thousand-405.

The daily tally dropped by about 61-thousand from a day ago. It decreased by 95-thousand from a week ago and 177-thousand from two weeks ago, indicating a clear decline of the omicron wave.

The figure, which peaked at over 620-thousand on March 17, steadily declined to 395-thousand on March 24 and 320-thousand on March 31.

Despite the decline in infections, the number of critical patients and deaths remains high.
 
The number of critically ill patients is down by 12 to one-thousand-116, remaining above eleven-hundred for the sixth consecutive day.

Wednesday saw 348 deaths, down 23 from a day ago. The death toll rose to 18-thousand-381, with the fatality rate standing at zero-point-12 percent.

The occupancy rate of ICU beds for critically ill patients nationwide fell to 59-point-three percent.

The number of home-treatment patients stands at one-point-31 million as of Thursday.