South Korea reports 12,693 new COVID-19 cases

South Korea reported 12,693 new COVID-19 cases as of midnight Sunday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 18,524,538, the health authorities said Monday. The daily caseload was down from 20,410 the previous day, but it was far higher than the 6,249 tallied a week earlier, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

For the past week, the daily average number of confirmed cases was 18,388. Among the new cases, 180 were imported from overseas, lifting the total to 37,358.The number of infected people who were in a serious condition stood at 71, up 4 from the previous day.

Eighteen more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 24,661. The total fatality rate was 0.13 per cent.