The number of daily COVID-19 cases in South Korea has dropped to the low 800s for the first time in five days as fewer people were tested during the New Year's holiday.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said Saturday that 824 new cases were reported throughout Friday, raising the country's accumulated caseload to 62-thousand-593.
The daily tally is down by more than 200 from the previous day.
By region, Seoul added 246 new infections, while the surrounding Gyeonggi Province recorded 222 and Incheon added 70.
Four more cases of the British COVID-19 variant have been newly confirmed in South Korea while another variant identified in South Africa has also been reported for the first time in Korea from a person who arrived from the country late last month.
This raises the total number of patients infected with a variant to ten so far.
An additional 625 patients have fully recovered and been released from quarantine, bringing that total to over 43-thousand to date, but some 18-thousand patients are still being treated.
The number of critically ill COVID-19 patients has risen by seven to 361 while 25 new deaths were reported Friday with the death toll standing at 942.