S. Korea's new COVID-19 cases spike amid resurgence woes

SEOUL, July 5 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's new coronavirus cases sharply increased Tuesday amid concerns about the virus' resurgence following eased social distancing restrictions.

The country added 18,147 new COVID-19 infections, including 171 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 18,413,997, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.

Tuesday's tally nearly tripled from 6,253 the previous day and nearly doubled from 9,894 a week ago.

The KDCA has said the pace of decline has recently slowed down amid waning immunity and eased social distancing rules.

The country added two COVID-19 deaths, raising the death toll to 24,576. The fatality rate stood at 0.13 percent.

The number of critically ill patients fell by 2 to 54, the KDCA said.

jwc@yna.co.kr
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