Prime Minister Han Duck-soo speaks at a meeting on public safety measures on Tuesday (Yonhap)

The mandatory COVID-19 isolation period is expected to be reduced to five days from the current seven starting in early May as the government is considering downgrading the virus to a lower infection level.

COVID-19 has been classified as a "serious" disease since February 2020 and a classification downgrade to an "alert" level means that infected people will be required to isolate for five days, from the current seven.

A decision on whether to downgrade it will be made in early May, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said.

"The long fight against COVID-19, which has lasted for more than three years, is nearing an end," Han told a COVID-19 response meeting. "It was a difficult process, but thanks to the participation of the people, patience and the dedication of medical workers, we were able to get here." (Yonhap)