S Korea reports 540 more COVID-19 cases, tally rises to 35,703

Seoul: South Korea reported 540 more cases of COVID-19 as of midnight Wednesday local time compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 35,703.

The daily caseload hovered above 500 for two straight days, growing in triple digits for 26 days running owing to small cluster infections in Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi province as well as imported cases.

For the past week from Nov. 27 to Dec. 3, the daily average number of confirmed cases was 492.6.

Of the new cases, 260 were Seoul residents and 137 were people residing in Gyeonggi province.

Twenty-four were imported from overseas, lifting the combined figure to 4,623.

Three more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 529. The total fatality rate stood at 1.48 percent.

A total of 287 more patients were discharged from quarantine after making full recovery, pulling up the combined number to 28,352. The total recovery rate was 79.41 percent.

Since Jan. 3, the country has tested more than 3.13 million people, among whom 3,030,395 tested negative for the virus and 65,788 are being checked.