Daily COVID-19 cases remained above seven-thousand for the second consecutive day and rose to the second-largest figure amid the rapid spread of the omicron variant.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said Sunday that seven-thousand-630 new infections were reported throughout the previous day, raising the total caseload to 733-thousand-902.

The daily tally marks the second-largest figure since the nation reported its first confirmed case on January 20 in 2020. The largest figure is seven-thousand-848 tallied on December 15.

The latest figure is three-thousand-440 more than a week ago and more than double the figure than two weeks ago.

The number of critical cases is down by two to 431, staying in the 400s for the fourth straight day.

As of 5 p.m. Saturday, the ICU occupancy rate nationwide stood at 21-point-six percent, up one-point-two percentage points from a day ago.

Eleven more deaths were reported in the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to six-thousand-540. The fatality rate stands at zero-point-89 percent.

Of the new cases, seven-thousand-343 cases were local transmissions, while 287 were from overseas.