New virus cases tick up to over 150

A visitor wearing a face mask as a precaution against the coronavirus, walks along a stream in Seoul, Thursday, Sept. 10, 2020. AP

South Korea reported an uptick in daily new infections of the novel coronavirus Thursday due to sporadic cluster outbreaks and untraceable cases.

The country added 153 more COVID-19 cases, including 145 local infections, raising the total caseload to 22,657, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

The figure marks a sharp rise from 113 cases reported Wednesday, 106 cases Tuesday and 109 cases Monday. It is the highest daily tally since Friday, when the country identified 176 cases.

The country's new virus cases have been in the triple digits for over a month, due mainly to cases tied to a church in northern Seoul and a political rally in the capital in mid-August. Daily infections soared to 441 on Aug. 27.

The number of daily new virus cases have been slowing down to some extent on the back of tougher social distancing measures, but rises in cases with unknown infection routes and cluster infections continue to weigh on the virus fight.

Health authorities target to bring the daily new cases down to below 100.

Of the newly identified local infections, 62 cases were reported in Seoul and 52 in Gyeonggi Province that surrounds the capital. Incheon, west of Seoul, reported seven more cases.

Other municipalities reported new infections, with the southeastern port city of Busan adding two cases and the southeastern city of Daegu also reporting two new cases.

The country reported eight imported cases, with four cases coming from Uzbekistan. The country's total number of imported cases is now at 3,046.

There were five additional deaths from COVID-19, raising the death toll to 372.

But the country could see more deaths down the road, as the number of seriously or critically ill COVID-19 patients came to 160 as of midnight.

The total number of people released from quarantine after making full recoveries stood at 19,543, up 233 from the previous day, with 2,742 people isolated for COVID-19 treatment, down 85 from a day ago. (Yonhap)

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