More than two-thousand new COVID-19 cases were reported amid growing concerns that the latest wave of the pandemic could worsen due to the upcoming Chuseok holiday. 

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency(KDCA) said on Wednesday that two-thousand-80 cases were confirmed throughout the previous day, bringing the total caseload to 277-thousand-989. 

The figure is 583 more cases than Tuesday and continues the ongoing trend of returning to the two-thousands mid-week, when more people get tested.  

The daily tally has exceeded two-thousand eight times since the pandemic began in January of last year. Wednesday’s figure is the fourth highest. 

For the 71st consecutive day, the nation saw four-digit new cases with the daily average standing at one-thousand-796 for the past week. 

Among the latest cases, two-thousand-57 were locally transmitted infections, while 23 were foreign imports.

By region, the Seoul metropolitan area reported one-thousand-656 domestic cases, accounting for a whopping 80-point-five percent. It is a record high for the capital region. Seoul reported 804 cases, the first time the capital city registered over 800 cases in a day. 

Non-capital regions, which have reported a gradual decline in recent days, added 401 cases, including 80 in South Chungcheong Province and 40 in Busan. 

Thirteen more people died, raising the death toll to two-thousand-380. The nation’s fatality rate stands at zero-point-86 percent. The number of critically ill patients rose by ten from the previous day to 350.