Health authorities reported nearly five-thousand new COVID-19 cases on Friday, with the number of critically ill patients surpassing 700 for the third consecutive day.   

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency(KDCA) said Friday that four-thousand-944 new infections were confirmed throughout Thursday, bringing the country's accumulated caseload to 462-thousand-555.

The daily tally dropped by over 300 from a day earlier, but marks a rise of more than one thousand from a week ago. 

The number of critically ill patients rose by three from a day ago to hit a fresh all-time high of 736, with people aged 60 and older accounting for nearly 83 percent.   

Thirty-four more people died of the virus, raising the overall death toll to three-thousand-739. The fatality rate remains unchanged from a day earlier at zero-point-81 percent. 

Of the new cases, four-thousand-923 were local transmissions and 21 were from overseas.

The greater Seoul area accounted for 78-point-five percent of local cases, including two-thousand-94 in Seoul and one-thousand-464 in Gyeonggi Province. Non-capital areas added one-thousand-59 cases.