The average daily amount of new COVID-19 infections in South Korea has increased over the past two weeks while patients in their 50s and older now account for more than half of all new cases.

In a Friday briefing, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters said that due to continuing sporadic clusters, the daily increase in cases from June 4 to the 17 has averaged 43-point-four a day, higher than the 34-point-three average of the previous two weeks.

By age group, patients in their 50s and older have increased in number, accounting for 55 percent of all new cases as of the second week of June, compared to just 12 percent in the second week of May.

Son Young-rae, a Health Ministry official, expressed concern that clusters continue to occur not only in the Seoul metro area but also in Daejeon and the Chungcheong provinces.

He added that authorities are accelerating contact tracing to the tune of one thousand people a day.