Korea reported new Covid-19 cases of below 30 for two consecutive days on Tuesday, as local infections continued to stay in single digits to offset the continuous double-digit rise of imported cases.

The nation recorded 28 new cases -- five local infections and 23 foreign ones -- raising the cumulative caseload to 14,203 as of midnight Monday, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. The total number of people released from quarantine after full recoveries stood at 13,007, up 102 from the previous day.

One more virus-linked death was reported, pushing up the death toll to 300. Korea, with a population of 50 million, has tested 1,537,704 people since Jan. 3.

Local virus dropped to the lowest level in a week with Seoul reporting three cases, followed by one in Gyeonggi Province and Busan.

The drop in new virus cases on the local front seems to show that the nation’s efforts to contain new cases have been successful.

The government had been in whack-a-mole game with the virus as new cluster infections popped up in unexpected places as soon as health officials managed to contain existing hot spots.

More recently, imported cases have emerged as a new hindrance for the health official’s struggle to contain Covid-19, with the number of foreign cases recording double-digit figures for the 33rd consecutive day.

The public health authorities remained on high alert for an additional surge in imported cases with the gradual resumption of global air travel.

Of the 23 imported cases reported on Tuesday, seven were from Kyrgyzstan, four from the U.S., and two from Mexico and Morocco, while 10 cases were detected at port and airport checkpoints.

No new cases were traced to Iraq or Russia, which have recently emerged as the primary source of imported cases for the country.