Interior and safety minister Lee Sang-min says that the government will announce adjustments to the indoor masking rules on Friday.

The minister made the remarks on Wednesday during a government meeting, assessing that the winter resurgence of COVID-19 has passed its peak.

Lee noted that the daily average of new infections dropped to the 42-thousand range as it fell for the third consecutive week, while the weekly number of critical cases posted a five-week low at 439.

The minister added that the capacity of ICU beds to treat critically ill COVID-19 patients remains sufficient at 68-point-five percent, and the booster vaccination rate among people in high-risk facilities surpassed the government’s goal of 60 percent to reach 61-point-two percent.

Lee said that considering the domestic virus situation and external factors such as new variants, the government will announce a detailed roadmap on lifting the indoor mask mandate on Friday.

Earlier, health authorities had said the indoor masking restrictions will be downgraded to a recommendation through two stages, with the first stage to be implemented depending on several major criteria including daily caseload and the number of serious cases.