SEOUL, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- South Korea reported 629 more cases of the COVID-19 as of midnight Thursday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 36,332.
The daily caseload hit the highest in over 9 months since March 2 when it recorded 686. The highest-ever reading of 909 was tallied on Feb. 29 when the first wave of the pandemic swept through the country.
The daily number of confirmed cases grew in triple digits for 27 days since Nov. 8 owing to small cluster infections in Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi province as well as imported cases.
For the past week from Nov. 28 to Dec. 4, the daily average caseload came in at 503.1.
Of the new cases, 291 were Seoul residents and 155 were people residing in Gyeonggi province.
Twenty-nine were imported from overseas, lifting the combined figure to 4,652.
Seven more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 536. The total fatality rate stood at 1.48 percent.
A total of 259 more patients were discharged from quarantine after making full recovery, pulling up the combined number to 28,611. The total recovery rate was 78.75 percent.
Since Jan. 3, the country has tested more than 3.15 million people, among whom 3,057,061 tested negative for the virus and 64,017 are being checked. Enditem
