Anchor: South Korea's daily COVID-19 virus cases are approaching 800 as growing untraceable cases, coupled with cluster infections, continue to hamper the country's fight against the pandemic.
Our Kim Bum-soo has the latest tally.

Report: In the face of a fourth wave of infections, Saturday marked the fourth day in a row that the daily case count exceeded 700.

South Korean quarantine agencies announced that 785 new COVID-19 cases were reported throughout the previous day, raising the country's accumulated caseload to 118-thousand-243.

After peaking at over one-thousand daily cases in December and again in January, daily infection numbers dropped into the 400s and then gradually the 300s. However, cases spiked again in late March, climbing above 500 and hitting the 700s in less than two weeks.

The disconcerting trend comes as untraceable infections accounted for 29 percent of all confirmed cases reported over the last two weeks. That’s the highest since the outbreak began in Korea.

The government conditionally approved COVID-19 self-test kits to deal with the situation.

Only about four-point-24 percent of the South Korean population has so far received the first COVID-19 shot, as of the end of the week.

Amid rising concerns over a shortage, the government is reviewing the safety of the Sputnik V Russia-developed vaccine while seeking to sign a swap deal with the U.S., under which the two allies can loan vaccines to each other.
Kim Bum-soo, KBS World Radio News.