(Photo: Yonhap)
South Korea on Tuesday reported 2,699 new COVID-19 cases and 30 more virus-related fatalities.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said all but 14 of the infections confirmed in the last 24 hours were locally transmitted, with the majority from the greater Seoul area.
Since the start of the pandemic, the KDCA has has recorded a total of 420,950 cases and 3,328 fatalities.
For the second straight day, the daily caseload remained below 3,000, but the number of critically ill COVID patients increased to a new record high of 549.
The government is struggling to avert a crisis-level shortage of hospital beds for severe patients, especially in the capital region, where intensive care units have hit 77 percent capacity.
On top of this, concerns are mounting over another potential upsurge in infections under the "living with COVID-19" scheme and eased social distancing rules aimed at gradually bringing the country back to pre-pandemic normalcy.
Health authorities continue to stress the importance of getting vaccinated against the virus in order to boost immunity and overcome the pandemic.
More than 82 percent of the population has received their first dose of a vaccine and 79 percent has been fully vaccinated, according to the KDCA.
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