This photo, taken on Tuesday, shows a batch of COVID-19 test kits. (Yonhap)

South Korea's new coronavirus cases bounced back to nearly 10,000 on Tuesday, while the number of deaths came down to a nine-month low.

The country added 9,778 COVID-19 infections, including 41 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 18,239,056, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.

Tuesday's case count rose after it dropped to 3,828 on Monday, the lowest since the 3,094 reported on Jan. 11.

The increase in the caseload was attributed to the growth in the number of tests on weekdays after declining over the weekend.

Daily infections have shown a downward trend after posting an all-time high of over 620,000 in mid-March.

The number of deaths reached two, bringing the death toll to 24,390. New deaths came to the lowest since Sept. 13, 2021, when a single case of death was reported.

The fatality rate stood at 0.13 percent.

The number of critically ill patients stood at 98, up from 95 the previous day, the KDCA said.

Of the 9,737 locally transmitted cases, Seoul accounted for 1,763 cases, with the surrounding Gyeonggi Province reporting 2,346 cases. There were 590 infections in Incheon, 40 kilometers west of Seoul.

As of Tuesday, 44.61 million, or 86.9 percent of the population, had completed the full two-dose vaccinations, and 33.34 million, or 65 percent, had received their first booster shots.

About 4.27 million people, or 8.3 percent of the population, had gotten their second booster shots, the KDCA said. (Yonhap)