Daily new COVID-19 cases fell to the 50-thousand range on Thursday amid a winter resurgence of the pandemic.

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on Thursday, 55-thousand-437 infections were reported the previous day, including 39 imported from overseas, bringing the total caseload to nearly 26 million-413-thousand.

The daily tally dropped by more than ten-thousand from a day ago to fall below 60-thousand. The figure rose by 80 from a week ago and some eight-thousand from two weeks ago, with the pace of growth slowing amid a steady upward trend.

The figure marks the highest for a Thursday in nine weeks.

The number of critically ill hospitalized patients fell by 31 from a day ago to 380, staying above 300 for the 13th consecutive day.

Wednesday added 67 deaths, the largest in 53 days, raising the death toll to 29-thousand-862. The fatality rate stands at zero-point-11 percent.