Seoul, Sep 15 (IANS): South Korean health authorities remain concerned over a possible "twindemic" -- a simultaneous outbreak of Covid-19 and the seasonal influenza -- which could come as early as this fall amid an unusual spike in the number of flu patients since July.

On Thursday, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) announced that it will begin administering seasonal flu shots to high-risk groups -- children aged 6 months through 13 years old, pregnant mothers and seniors over 65 -- starting on September 21 at some 20,000 hospitals and medical facilities nationwide, reports Yonhap News Agency.

Children, who have never received a flu vaccine, must receive two doses for protection, health authorities added.

In terms of the pandemic, the country reported 71,471 new Covid infections in the last 24 hours, including 352 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 24,264,470, according to the latest KDCA figures.

With an addition of 72 new fatalities also in the same period, the death toll increased to 27,665.