Seoul, Jan 8 (IANS): South Korea on Friday reported 674 new coronavirus cases, raising the total number of infections to 67,358.

The daily caseload stayed below 1,000 for four straight days, but it hovered above 100 for 62 days since November 8, 2020m due to small cluster infections in Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi province, as well as imported cases, reports Xinhua news agency.

The daily average number of confirmed cases for the past week was 799.

Of the new cases, 186 were Seoul residents and 236 were people residing in Gyeonggi province.

Forty-one were imported from overseas, lifting the combined figure to 5,647.

Thirty-five more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 1,081. The total fatality rate stood at 1.60 per cent.

A total of 720 more patients were discharged from quarantine after making full recovery, pulling up the combined number to 48,369. The total recovery rate was 71.81 per cent.

The country tested more than 4.63 million people, among whom 4,372,194 tested negative for the virus and 190,452 are being checked.