Seoul, South Korea reported 1,710 more cases of COVID-19 as of midnight Thursday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 196,806, officials said.
The daily caseload was up from 1,674 in the prior day, hovering above 1,000 for 24 straight days. The daily average tally for the past week was 1,583.
The recent resurgence was attributable to cluster infections in Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi province.
Of the new cases, 487 were Seoul residents and 515 were people residing in Gyeonggi province.
The virus spread also raged in the non-metropolitan region ahead of the summer vacation season, when people in the capital region moved to non-capital areas to enjoy summer holidays.
The number of newly infected people in the non-capital areas was 548, or 33.0 percent of the total local transmission. The number stayed above 500 for the 10th consecutive day.
Forty-eight cases were imported from overseas, lifting the combined figure to 11,823.
Four more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 2,089. The total fatality rate stood at 1.06 percent.
A total of 1,198 more patients were discharged from quarantine after making full recovery, pulling up the combined number to 172,757. The total recovery rate was 87.78 percent.
(Agencies)
