(2nd LD) S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases stay over 10,000 for 2nd day amid resurgence woes

(ATTN: UPDATES with 9 p.m. case count in last 2 paras)

SEOUL, July 3 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's new coronavirus cases stayed above 10,000 for the second consecutive day Sunday as the daily cases seemed to be rising again after months of subsiding.

The country added 10,059 COVID-19 infections, including 191 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 18,389,611, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.

The country reported eight COVID-19 deaths, raising the death toll to 24,570. The fatality rate stood at 0.13 percent.

The number of critically ill patients stood at 53, the KDCA said.

South Korea's COVID-19 outbreaks have shown a downward trend after daily new cases peaked at an all-time high of over 620,000 in mid-March.

But the KDCA has said the pace of decline has recently slowed down amid waning vaccine immunity and increasing social interactions following eased social distancing rules, and that a possible spike in infections lies ahead.

Sunday's figure is up by more than 3,800 from a week ago and nearly 4,000 from two weeks ago.

Imported cases have remained above 100 since June 24 due to a rise in international flights.

Of the 9,868 locally transmitted cases, Seoul accounted for 2,437 cases, with the surrounding Gyeonggi Province reporting 2,637 cases. There were 516 infections in Incheon, 40 kilometers west of Seoul. The greater Seoul area accounted for 56 percent of the total caseload.

As of 9 p.m. Sunday, local governments had reported 5,880 additional cases, down 3,641 from the same time Saturday, but up 2,579 from the same time a week ago and up 2,504 from the same time two weeks ago.

Daily cases are counted until midnight and announced the following morning.

jaeyeon.woo@yna.co.kr
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