Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency(KDCA) Commissioner Jee Young-mee expects the mandatory quarantine for COVID-19 patients to be completely lifted in July.

At a press briefing on Wednesday, Jee said authorities are expected to make an adjustment in May of the first-phase rules eased in January that lifted the mask mandate for most locations, except for high-risk facilities.

The government announced a new roadmap for the nation's crisis level adjustment that called for a decision in early May on whether to lower the COVID-19 alert by a notch to "alert" from the highest "emergency" that has been in place since February 2020.

The isolation period for patients would also be shortened from the current seven to five days.

By July, the country would likely be able to downgrade the infectious disease classification for COVID-19 from the current Class Two to Class Four, after which the mandatory quarantine and the remaining mask mandate would be scrapped altogether.

The KDCA chief did not, however, expect a complete return to pre-pandemic conditions, saying the nation will have to find ways to coexist with the virus and better prepare for bigger pandemics.