SEOUL • South Korea has reported fewer than 50 new coronavirus cases for the first time since its peak at the end of February as daily infections in Asia's largest outbreak outside China continued to trend downwards.

The Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) yesterday said there were 47 new infections as of midnight on Sunday compared with 81 recorded a day earlier, taking the national cumulative tally to 10,284.

The death toll rose by three to 186, while another 135 people have recovered, for a total of 6,598.

South Korea has largely managed to bring the outbreak under control for now, with around 100 or fewer new daily cases for the past month, but it was the first time the rate of daily cases fell below 50 since 909 were reported on Feb 29.

But officials have urged even greater vigilance, saying a large epidemic could re-emerge at any time, with smaller outbreaks in churches, hospitals and nursing homes, as well as infections among travellers, continuing to arise.

A fall in daily demand for tests to some 6,000 from around 10,000 over the weekend contributed to the decline in numbers, said Vice-Health Minister Kim Gang-lip. "We are taking great caution against any optimistic expectations with this one-off figure," he told a regular briefing.

Last Saturday, the government extended its intensive social distancing campaign by two weeks.

South Koreans had refrained from socialising in February when the number of patients exponentially rose, but more people have started going out recently as the weather became warmer and fatigue grew about social distancing, Mr Kim said.

The movement of citizens spiked about 20 per cent over the weekend compared to the end of February, he said, citing data from the state-run statistics agency and SK Telecom, the country's largest mobile operator.

On Sunday, the government toughened penalties for those who violate self-quarantine rules to up to 10 million won (S$11,700) in fines or one year in prison from 3 million won in fines.

REUTERS