coronavirus-additional cases

S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases stay above 70,000 as subvariant spreads

SEOUL, July 20 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's new coronavirus cases stayed above 70,000 for the second straight day Wednesday as a highly contagious omicron subvariant is spreading fast amid eased virus curbs.

The country reported 76,402 new COVID-19 infections, including 429 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 18,937,971, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.

On Tuesday, the daily caseload more than doubled to 73,582 from 26,299 a day earlier. Daily infections stood at 41,310 on Saturday and 40,342 on Sunday.

The omicron subvariant BA.5 has spread fast since end-June with the start of the summer holiday season. The daily count hit over 10,000 on June 29 for the first time in about three weeks before jumping to over 20,000 on July 9 and then above 40,000 on July 13.

The KDCA reported 12 deaths from the virus Wednesday, putting the death toll at 24,777. The fatality rate stood at 0.13 percent.

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