South Korea's new COVID-19 cases fell below 20,000 on Monday as its spread continues to slow down amid high levels of vaccinations and eased restrictions.

The country reported 11,040 new COVID-19 infections, including 81 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 25,131,505, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.

The country has seen a gradual downtrend in new infections since peaking at over 180,000 cases on Aug. 17.

Monday's tally fell from 21,469 on Sunday but inched up by more than 2,000 cases from a week ago. The corresponding figure was 12,142 two weeks ago.

The government has eased antivirus restrictions, including lifting all outdoor mask mandates and the COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing requirement for inbound travelers, as part of efforts to resume pre-pandemic normalcy.

The country reported 11 deaths from COVID-19, raising the death toll to 28,851. The fatality rate stood at 0.11 percent. The number of critically ill patients came to 248, up one from a day earlier, the KDCA said. (Yonhap)