SEOUL, June 17 (Xinhua) -- South Korea reported 7,198 new COVID-19 cases as of midnight Thursday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 18,263,643, the health authorities said Friday.
The daily caseload was down from 7,994 in the previous day, hovering below 10,000 for the eighth consecutive day, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
For the past week, the daily average number of confirmed cases was 7,720.
Among the new cases, 68 were imported from overseas, lifting the total to 33,714.
The number of infected people who were in a serious condition stood at 82, down 16 from the previous day.
Nine more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 24,416. The total fatality rate was 0.13 percent. ■