S.Korea reports 87,559 new COVID-19 cases

SEOUL, Dec. 20 (Xinhua) -- South Korea reported 87,559 new COVID-19 cases as of midnight Monday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 28,302,474, the health authorities said Tuesday.

It marked the highest daily cases in 97 days since Sept. 14 amid rising worry about the resurgence in winter.

The daily caseload was sharply up from 26,622 in the prior day and higher than 86,830 tallied a week ago, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

For the past week, the daily average number of new cases was 65,946.

Among the new cases, 74 were imported from overseas, lifting the total to 72,727.

The number of infected people who were in critical condition stood at 519, down 16 from the previous day.

Fifty-six more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 31,490.