S. Korea reports 551 more COVID-19 cases, 103,639 in total

SEOUL, April 1 (Xinhua) -- South Korea reported 551 more cases of COVID-19 as of midnight Wednesday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 103,639.

The daily caseload was the highest in 41 days since Feb. 19, staying above 500 for two straight days.

The daily number of infections hovered above 100 since Nov. 8 owing to small cluster infections in Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi province as well as imported cases.

Of the new cases, 197 were Seoul residents and 125 were people residing in Gyeonggi province.

Fourteen cases were imported from overseas, lifting the combined figure to 7,602.

Four more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 1,735. The total fatality rate stood at 1.67 percent.

A total of 409 more patients were discharged from quarantine after making full recovery, pulling up the combined number to 95,439. The total recovery rate was 92.09 percent.

The country tested more than 7.74 million people, among whom 7,575,005 tested negative for the virus and 68,659 are being checked.

Since the mass vaccination was launched on Feb. 26, the country has administered COVID-19 vaccines to a total of 876,573 with 12,973 fully vaccinated.