People wait to get tested for COVID-19 at a testing center in central Seoul on Sunday. (Yonhap)

South Korea's new COVID-19 cases slowed to a 10-week low on Monday, showing signs of a downturn in the virus wave.

The country reported 19,407 new COVID-19 infections, including 289 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 24,413,873, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.

The new daily figure is the lowest since cases dropped to 12,672 on July 11.

The Monday tally's fall is notable despite the fact that fewer tests are conducted during weekends.

The daily caseload decreased from 34,764 the previous day and more than halved from 36,923 a week ago. The daily new cases slowed for a fifth consecutive day since Thursday.

The downturn came after the COVID-19 omicron variant resurged in early July and peaked above 180,000 cases in mid-August. The COVID-19 cases slowed even during the Chuseok holiday season a week ago.

Health authorities expect the virus wave to be on a gradual slowdown.

Amid the virus' slowdown, authorities are mulling ways to downgrade the anti-COVID-19 system from the current emergency level to a normal level.

Under the proposed normal level, certain key social distancing duties, such as the facial mask mandates in indoor spaces and self-isolation requirements of infected people, may be further lifted.

The KDCA reported 39 deaths from COVID-19, putting the death toll at 27,867. The fatality rate was 0.11 percent.

The number of critically ill patients came to 508, up 19 from a day earlier.

Starting Monday, SKYCovione -- South Korea's first homegrown COVID-19 vaccine developed by SK Bioscience Co. -- is available for the third and fourth doses of COVID-19 vaccine shots, in addition to its use as primary two-dose inoculations.

Reservations for SKYCovione shots can be made online at ncvr.kdca.go.kr or via phone call at 1339. (Yonhap)