On Wednesday, Korea's new Covid-19 cases continued their downward trend week to week. Notably, according to health officials, the reproduction index, a gauge of future spreading trends, has fallen to approach 1, showing signs of stagnation or reduction.

The country reported 67,415 new Covid-19 infections, including 85 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 27,098,734, according to data from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

Wednesday's tally is down from the 71,476 reported the previous day.

It was also lower than the 70,306 tallied a week ago and similar to the 66,567 two weeks ago. The corresponding number three weeks ago was 62,466.

The government has warned against the emergence of new variants during winter, asking people to get updated booster shots designed to protect against Omicron variants. All people 18 years and older whose latest vaccine shot or recovery from Covid-19 has passed 90 days are eligible for variant-adaptive booster shots.

The KDCA reported 52 Covid-19 deaths, raising the toll to 30,506. In addition, the number of critically ill patients came to 472, down by 19 from Tuesday.

The growth in daily infections has slowed in recent days, but the KDCA said it was working with health institutions to handle as many as 200,000 Covid-19 patients a day if the virus’ spread picks up again.

The reproduction rate, which presumes new infections to stem from a single case, was 1.01 on average for the fourth week of November. The recent number peaked at 1.09 for the third week of October and has since gradually declined.

However, health official expressed concerns over a possible spike in infections, citing the emergence of new variants, waning vaccine efficacy, and more indoor activities in coming months.