S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases rise to over 3-month high, cumulative cases top 20 mln

▲ People sit in line to receive tests at a COVID-19 testing center in Seoul on Aug. 2, 2022. (Yonhap)

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S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases rise to over 3-month high, cumulative cases top 20 mln

SEOUL, Aug. 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's new COVID-19 cases rose further on Wednesday amid a fresh wave of infections driven by a highly infectious omicron variant.

The country added 119,922 new COVID-19 infections, including 600 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 20,052,305, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.

The nation, with a population of 51.6 million, reached the grim milestone 2 1/2 years after its first COVID-19 case was reported on Jan. 20, 2020.

Wednesday's figure was the highest after April 15 when the daily caseload was 125,822 as the omicron variant BA.5 continued to spread rapidly. It also increased from the 100,252 cases reported a week ago.

The number of seriously ill patients also rose to 284, the highest level in nearly three months.

The KDCA reported 26 deaths from COVID-19, raising the death toll to 25,110. The fatality rate was 0.13 percent.

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