South Korea's new coronavirus cases bounced back to the 40,000s on Sunday, but daily COVID-19 cases are widely on a downward trend even after the lifting of almost all antivirus curbs.

The country added 40,064 new COVID-19 infections, including 16 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 17,544,398, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

The tally is up from 26,714 on Friday and 39,600 on Saturday.

Daily infections have been on the downward trend in recent weeks after peaking at over 620,000 in mid-March due to the fast spread of the omicron variant.

The country reported 83 more COVID-19 deaths, bringing the total to 23,360, the KDCA said. The fatality rate stood at 0.13 percent.

The number of critically ill patients came to 423, slightly up from 419 a day earlier.

In mid-April, South Korea lifted almost all social distancing rules in a major step toward a return to pre-pandemic normalcy, after restrictions were first introduced in March 2020.

Last week, the government also removed the outdoor mask mandate after more than 18 months of implementation, except for large gatherings of 50 or more. Wearing masks indoors will be in place for some time. (Yonhap)