S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases stay above 110,000

▲ People wait to get tested for COVID-19 at a testing center in the western ward of Mapo, Seoul, on Aug. 19, 2022. (Yonhap)

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S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases stay above 110,000

SEOUL, Aug. 21 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's new COVID-19 cases stayed above 110,000 on Sunday, but the daily caseload fell from a week ago in a possible sign that the omicron-fueled summer wave could be slowing down.

The country added 110,944 new COVID-19 infections, including 396 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 22,240,331, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.

The tally fell by around 8,600 cases from a week ago, marking the first decline for a Sunday since late June when the wave turned upward again, fueled by the highly transmissible omicron subvariant BA.5 and increased summer travelers.

The country reported 64 new COVID-19 deaths, bringing the total death toll to 26,044, the KDCA said. The fatality rate stood at 0.12 percent.

The number of critically ill patients came to 531, up 20 from a day ago.

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