SEOUL, Dec. 10 (Xinhua) -- South Korea reported 682 more cases of COVID-19 as of midnight Wednesday local time compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 40,098.
The total reading topped 40,000 19 days after surpassing 30,000 on Nov. 21 as the daily number of infections hovered between 400 and 700 for the past weeks.
The daily caseload increased in triple digits for 33 days since Nov. 8 owing to small cluster infections in Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi province as well as imported cases.
Of the new cases, 251 were Seoul residents and 201 were people residing in Gyeonggi province.
Thirty-six were imported from overseas, lifting the combined figure to 4,825.
Eight more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 564. The total fatality rate stood at 1.41 percent.
A total of 460 more patients were discharged from quarantine after making full recovery, pulling up the combined number to 30,637. The total recovery rate was 76.41 percent.
Since Jan. 3, the country has tested more than 3.27 million people, among whom 3,165,085 tested negative for the virus and 72,764 are being checked. Enditem