South Korea's new coronavirus cases fell below 30 for the fifth straight day Friday, but health authorities warned against complacency and urged people to keep up social distancing.

The 22 new cases, detected Thursday and unchanged from a day ago, brought the nation's total infections to 10,635, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).

South Korea's daily new cases reached a peak on Feb. 29 with 909 confirmed cases, but the country has since managed to flatten the curve of new infections.

In particular, the daily number of new virus cases has been below 50 for the last nine days, with health authorities saying that the country's extensive social distancing campaign began to pay off.

However, health authorities remain on high alert over imported cases as well as cluster infections at churches and hospitals. Of the 22 new cases, 14 of them were from abroad.

They are also keeping an eye on those who have retested positive for COVID-19.

The nation's death toll from the new coronavirus, which emerged in China late last year, rose by one to 230, according to the KCDC.

The number of patients released from quarantine after making full recoveries reached 7,829, up 72 from a day earlier. (Yonhap)