Daily new COVID-19 cases surpassed two-thousand for the first time on Wednesday since the outbreak of the epidemic in the country, hitting a new record high.  
 
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency(KDCA) said on Wednesday that two-thousand-223 new cases were detected throughout Tuesday, raising the country's accumulated caseload to 216-thousand-206.

Of the new cases, two-thousand-145 were local transmissions, while 78 were from overseas.

The daily figure soared by nearly 700 from the previous day and marks a new daily high.

The greater metro area accounted for 65-point-five percent of local cases, reporting one-thousand-405, another new record. Non-capital areas added 740 cases, taking up 34-point-five percent of local cases. 

One more death has been reported, bringing the death toll to two-thousand-135. The fatality rate stands at point-99 percent. It is the first time for it to fall below one percent since mid-March of last year. 

The number of critically ill patients rose by eight from the previous day to 387, staying above 300 for the 12th straight day.