The reproduction rate of COVID-19 rose to one-point-32 amid a rapid spread of the virus in the greater Seoul area as well as other parts of the nation.

Senior Health Ministry official Son Young-rae said on Sunday during a press briefing that new cases came to an average of one-thousand-349 a day over the past week, up 36 percent from a week earlier.

He said the virus reproduction rate marked one-point-32 last week, up from one-point-24 the previous week. The rate has stayed above one for three straight weeks.  

The rate refers to the number of people a single patient can infect, with a reading over one indicating the virus is spreading. 

The official also said that one out of three cases is the highly transmissible Delta variant.