The number of new daily COVID-19 cases in South Korea fell Thursday after reaching a four-month record high the previous day, but new deaths climbed to a three-month high amid the fast spread of a highly contagious omicron subvariant.
The country added 137,241 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total caseload to 20,983,169, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Of the new cases, 522 were from overseas.
Thursday's tally fell from 151,792 the previous day but surged when compared with 107,859 a week earlier.
The number of seriously ill patients also increased to 418, up from 402 on Wednesday.
The KDCA reported 59 new deaths from COVID-19, the highest since May 12, raising the death toll to 25,441. The fatality rate was 0.12 percent. (Yonhap)
