Starting from Thursday, COVID-19 will be classed as a Level Four infectious disease.

The government will make the adjustment to the lowest category in line with measures finalized last Wednesday amid a slowdown in the virus’ transmission and a significant drop in the fatality rate.

Initially categorized as a Level Two infectious disease alongside tuberculosis, measles, cholera, typhoid and leprosy, COVID-19 will now be in the same group as influenza, acute respiratory syndrome and hand-foot-and-mouth disease.

From Thursday, the government will suspend the counting of daily of COVID-19 infections, with reports of cases from some 500 institutions instead used to estimate weekly caseloads.

With the adjustment, state support for testing and inpatient treatment will be terminated, and payouts for living costs and paid vacation expenses for those eligible will also end.

Partial support for rapid antigen tests will continue for high-risk groups, such as seniors aged 60 or older, while testing facilities will remain to provide free PCR tests for such groups and those in facilities at high risk of infection.

The government will also continue to offer vaccination and treatment support for those groups.