Korea's new Covid-19 cases remained below 100 for two consecutive days on Monday for the first time in nearly 40 days.

The nation reported 70 new virus cases, including 55 local infections, raising the cumulative caseload to 23,045 as of midnight Sunday, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.

Two more people died of Covid-19, pushing the death toll to 385. The fatality rate reached 1.67 percent. An additional 90 people were discharged from quarantine, increasing the total to 20,248. The country has tested 2,231,589 people since Jan. 3. Korea also reported 15 imported cases.

Despite the fall in daily cases, the government extended its strengthened social distancing measure by another week as untraceable, sporadic infections continued to arise. The Level 2 social distancing scheme will be extended to Sept. 27, as health officials expressed concerns that the spread of the virus may worsen again during the upcoming Chuseok holiday.

Korea operates a three-tier social distancing system. Under the second level, all indoor gatherings of 50 or more people are banned, while the ceiling is 100 for outdoor meetings. The measures also call for limiting the operations of so-called high-risk facilities, such as bars and karaoke rooms. Public facilities, such as museums and libraries, will be closed for another week as well. Large-sized facilities that are allowed to operate will need to keep all visitors' entry logs and make sure that they maintain a safe distance.

The country has been struggling to avoid the highest level of social distancing, including banning gatherings of 10 or more people. This would have a severe impact on the nation's economy.

However, students in Seoul and its surrounding areas returned to school for rotational in-person learning, starting Monday.

"To minimize the spread of Covid-19 during the traditional festive season, we must reduce the number of confirmed cases to a safe level," Second Vice Minister of Health and Welfare Kang Do-tae said. "The new Covid-19 cases fell to a double-digit on Sunday for the first time in 38 days, but 28 percent of confirmed cases still have unknown infection routes, while sporadic group infections are also continuing in various cities and provinces."

Kang stressed that door-to-door sales businesses still threaten the nation's effort to contain the virus. "The number of infections through door-to-door sales and business presentations has reached 10 since mid-August. We advise elderly citizens to refrain from visiting such facilities."

The government also plans to take measures to contain the spread of Covid-19 during the Chuseok holiday (Sept. 30-Oct. 4) by mobilizing all of its capability to minimize citizens' movements and contacts.

"There have been many reports about people traveling during the Chuseok holiday," Kang said. "Please refrain from traveling so that Chuseok does not become a gateway for the spread of Covid-19."

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