Health authorities reported more than five-thousand new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, with a continued spike in infections.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said Sunday that five-thousand-128 new infections were confirmed throughout Saturday, bringing the country's accumulated caseload to 473-thousand-34.

The daily tally dropped by over 220 from a day earlier, apparently due to fewer tests over the weekend, but soared by more than 12-hundred from a week ago.

It marks the first time that the Sunday tallies surpassed five-thousand.

The number of critically ill patients dropped by eight from a day ago to 744, staying over 700 for the fifth consecutive day.

Forty-three more people died of the virus, raising the overall death toll to three-thousand-852. The fatality rate remains unchanged from a day earlier at zero-point-81 percent.

The number of omicron infections rose by three to 12.

Of the new cases, five-thousand-104 were local transmissions and 24 were from overseas.

The greater Seoul area accounted for about 75 percent of local cases, including two-thousand-22 in Seoul and one-thousand-484 in Gyeonggi Province. Non-capital areas added one-thousand-285 cases.