South Korea's daily average of new Covid-19 cases declined last week for the first time in more than two months, but the number of critically ill patients and deaths will likely continue to rise amid the Omicron-driven outbreak, officials have said.

South Korea reported an average of about 350,000 new cases last week, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said. It was the first drop in the weekly average in 11 weeks, KDCA Commissioner Jeong Eun-kyeong said, according to AP.

The current outbreak has likely peaked and is expected to trend downward, Jeong said citing expert studies. But new cases in South Korea will likely drop slowly because of relaxed social distancing rules, an expansion of in-person school classes and rising infections due to the coronavirus mutant widely known as stealth Omicron, she said.