Daily COVID-19 cases surpassed eight-thousand for the first time to hit a record high on Tuesday amid the rapid spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency(KDCA) said Tuesday that eight-thousand-571 new infections were detected throughout the previous day, raising the total caseload to 749-thousand-979.

It marks the first time the daily tally topped eight-thousand since the nation reported its first confirmed case on January 20, 2020.

The daily figure jumped by over one-thousand from the previous day. As the omicron variant has become the dominant strain, experts expect the daily tally may surpass ten-thousand within this week. 

The number of critical patients, however, is on a steady fall, dropping by 26 to 392. The figure fell to 300s after staying above 400 for five straight days.  

Monday saw 23 more deaths, raising the death toll to six-thousand-588. The fatality rate further dropped to zero-point-88 percent.  

Of the new cases, eight-thousand-356 were local transmissions, while 215 were from overseas.