Seventy-five new COVID-19 cases were reported on Saturday, staying below 100 for the third straight day over South Korea’s biggest national holidays Chuseok.

According to the daily tally announced by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the country added 75 more COVID-19 cases, raising the total infection figure to 24,027.

There were 52 local infections.

After hitting 133 on Wednesday, daily infections have declined back to double-digit figures during the three-day Chuseok holidays. The country reported 63 new infections Friday and 77 cases Thursday.

The falls in new infection cases seem to be attributable to fewer COVID-19 tests taken during the extended holiday period as people are enjoying an uninterrupted weekend after the national holidays that ended on Friday.

Health authorities are on alert over potential rebounds in new virus infection cases after the weekend.

The authorities designated Monday to Oct. 10 as a special two-week period for toughened virus curbs on concerns that new virus cases may resurge again.

Of the 75 new cases reported on Saturday, 25 came from the Seoul metropolitan area.

The country added 23 imported cases, raising the total to 3,270. 

Five cases came from Uzbekistan, followed by four from the Philippines and three from Ukraine.

Four more persons died due to the coronavirus, bringing the country’s COVID-19 death toll to 420 and the fatality rate to 1.75 percent.

The number of patients in severe or chronic conditions is 104, down three from the previous day. 

The figure for people released from quarantine after making full recoveries stood at 21,787, up 54 from Friday.

Over 2.33 million people have been tested for COVID-19 in Korea so far, and nearly 2.29 million of them were tested negative.

By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com)