New COVID-19 cases registered in the ten-thousands on Friday amid a continued slowdown in the latest wave of infections.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said on Friday that ten-thousand-408 infections were reported throughout the previous day, including 20 from overseas, bringing the country's cumulative caseload to nearly 30 million-544-thousand.

The tally is up by some 28-hundred from Thursday’s figure due to increased tests after March First Independence Day. It rose by some 350 from a week ago, but dropped by about one-thousand from two weeks ago.

The number of patients in critical care is up by six from a day earlier to 135.

Thursday added eleven deaths, raising the cumulative death toll to 34-thousand-14, with the overall fatality rate at zero-point-11 percent.