New COVID-19 cases have jumped by nearly 13-hundred from a week ago.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said Saturday that eleven-thousand-246 infections were reported throughout Friday including 21 from overseas. 

The figure is up by one-thousand-294 from a week ago and by more than 500 from two weeks prior.

Saturday marks the second day of an on-week increase in daily infections.

Authorities are expected to analyze the development in the coming days to figure out whether the uptick is due to temporary factors such as a recent holiday and the beginning of the school semester or whether the recent decline in case numbers has bottomed out.

The number of critically ill patients under hospital care edged up by eight from the previous day to 143.

Friday added six deaths raising the death toll to 34-thousand-20. The overall fatality rate stands at zero-point-11 percent.