coronavirus-additional cases

S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases remain high at 40,342

SEOUL, July 17 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's new coronavirus cases stayed above 40,000 on Sunday due to the spread of a highly contagious new omicron subvariant despite fewer tests over the weekend.

The country reported 40,342 new COVID-19 infections, including 305 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 18,761,757, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.

Sunday's figure is slightly down from 41,310 cases a day earlier, but the daily caseload remains high due to the spread of the omicron subvariant BA.5. The country has seen a marked increase in infections from end-June amid eased virus curbs.

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 Wednesday. The infection tally on Thursday and Friday stood at 39,186 and 38,882, respectively.

The KDCA reported 14 deaths from the virus Sunday, putting the death toll at 24,742. The fatality rate stood at 0.13 percent.

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