Daily new COVID-19 cases in South Korea came to about seven-thousand, staying below ten-thousand for the eighth consecutive day.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said on Friday that seven-thousand-198 infections were confirmed the previous day, including 68 from overseas.

The country's accumulated caseload is tallied at over 18-point-two million.

The daily tally dropped by about 800 from a day ago and over two-thousand from a week ago. It marks the lowest in five months for Friday figures.

Despite the general downturn, the government decided to extend the current seven-day quarantine requirement for COVID-19 patients for four more weeks.

The number of critically ill hospitalized patients dropped by 16 from the previous day to 82, remaining below 100 for the sixth consecutive day.

Nine new deaths have been reported, raising the death toll to 24-thousand-416. The overall fatality rate stands at zero-point-13 percent.