South Korea reports 580 more COVID-19 cases, 71,820 in total

South Korea reported 580 more cases of COVID-19 as of midnight Saturday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 71,820.

The daily caseload stayed below 600 for six straight days, after posting 451 on Jan. 11. It peaked at 1,240 on Dec. 25.

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

Of the new cases, 148 were Seoul residents and 163 were people residing in Gyeonggi province.

Thirty-three were imported from overseas, lifting the combined figure to 5,902.

Nineteen more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 1,236. The total fatality rate stood at 1.72 percent.

A total of 1,018 more patients were discharged from quarantine after making full recovery, pulling up the combined number to 57,554. The total recovery rate was 80.14 percent.

The country tested more than 5.03 million people, among whom 4,804,811 tested negative for the virus and 155,639 are being checked. (/Xinhua)

( With inputs from ANI )