Health authorities reported nearly four-thousand new COVID-19 cases on Friday, with the number of severe patients rising to a new high. 

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency(KDCA) reported Friday that three-thousand-901 cases were compiled throughout the previous day, raising the country's accumulative caseload to 432-thousand-901. 

The daily tally slightly dropped from the day prior, but reached almost four-thousand for the second straight day. The figure marks a rise of 867 cases from a week ago. 

Critical cases hit a new high of 617, staying above 600 for the second consecutive day. More than 85 percent of those cases are senior citizens aged over 60.  

The death toll rose to three-thousand-440 with 39 additional deaths, while the fatality rate remained zero-point-79 percent.  

Of the new cases, three-thousand-882 were local transmissions and 19 were from overseas. The capital region accounted for nearly 80 percent of local infections, reporting three-thousand-99 cases. Non-capital areas added 783 infections.