The country's daily COVID-19 caseload has bounced back above the four thousand level, while the number of critically ill patients and new deaths have reached record highs.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency(KDCA) said Saturday that four-thousand-68 new infections were confirmed throughout Friday, raising the country's accumulated caseload to nearly 437-thousand.

The outbreak is spreading especially in the capital region, with more than 18-hundred cases reported in Seoul alone, another fresh high.

Friday also saw 52 COVID-linked deaths, bringing the overall death toll to three-thousand-492. The fatality rate stands at zero-point-eight percent.

The number of critically ill patients is at an all-time high of 634, staying in the 600s for the third straight day.