South Korea's new COVID-19 cases fell to the lowest in nine weeks Monday amid the government's efforts to contain the inflow of the virus from China.

The country reported 19,106 new COVID-19 infections, including 109 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 29,539,706, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said.

Monday's tally marked a decrease since Nov. 7, when the country reported 18,665 new cases.

The country added 35 COVID-19 deaths, bringing the death toll to 32,625. The number of critically ill patients came to 532, down from 526 the previous day, the KDCA said.

After topping 80,000 on Tuesday, the daily tally has been on a decline for a sixth consecutive day.

South Korea has been stepping up its efforts to contain the local spread of the virus by overseas entrants, monitoring the recent surge in infections in China and other adjacent regions.

Of the 109 new cases of overseas infections Monday, 74, or 68 percent, were from China, the KDCA said.

In order to slow the overseas inflow of the virus, the government began requiring arrivals from China to present a negative polymerase chain reaction or antigen test for the coronavirus before boarding and undergo a post-entry polymerase chain reaction test, starting last week.

Travelers from Hong Kong and Macao also have to show a negative pre-entry virus test. (Yonhap)