S Korea reports 513 new COVID-19 cases, 71,241 in total

South Korea reported 513 more cases of COVID-19 as of midnight Thursday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 71,241.

The daily caseload stayed below 600 for five straight days, after posting 451 on January 11. It peaked at 1,240 on December 25 last year.

The daily number of infections hovered above 100 since November 8 owing to small cluster infections in Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi province as well as imported cases.

Of the new cases, 122 were Seoul residents and 180 were people residing in Gyeonggi province.

Twenty-nine were imported from overseas, lifting the combined figure to 5,869.

Twenty-two more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 1,217. The total fatality rate stood at 1.71 per cent.

A total of 764 more patients were discharged from quarantine after making full recovery, pulling up the combined number to 56,536. The total recovery rate was 79.36 per cent.

The country has tested more than 4.97 million people, among whom 4,744,511 tested negative for the virus and 162,323 are being checked. (/Xinhua)

( With inputs from ANI )