 |
| People stand in line to take coronavirus tests at a screening clinic in Seoul's Yongsan Ward, Oct. 18. Yonhap |
Korea's new COVID-19 cases more than doubled from a week ago Tuesday, a departure from the steady downturn in new infections the country has seen in recent months.
The country reported 33,248 new COVID-19 infections, including 87 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 25,164,695, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.
Tuesday's tally tripled from 11,040 a day ago and more than doubled from a week ago, when the corresponding figure was 15,466.
While the virus wave has been on the decline since it peaked at over 180,000 cases on Aug. 17, Korea has seen a weekly uptick for the fifth consecutive day, putting health authorities on alert ahead of a possible winter surge.
The country reported six deaths from COVID-19, raising the death toll to 28,856. The fatality rate stood at 0.11 percent. The number of critically ill patients came to 247, down one from a day earlier, the KDCA said.
In recent weeks, the government has eased antivirus restrictions, including lifting all outdoor mask mandates and the COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction testing requirement for inbound travelers, as part of efforts to resume pre-pandemic normalcy. (Yonhap)
![[ANALYSIS] Tesla, BYD's price cuts unnerve LGES, Samsung, SK](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/b1cf8ba68d474cb69352bfe7ea9d14f0.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
![[INTERVIEW] How ATEEZ achieved worldwide success](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/c7723b56dde94eb4b260950d368fe8fb.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
