South Korea reported nearly 600 new COVID-19 cases amid lingering concerns about highly transmissible variant strains.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency(KDCA) said Tuesday that 595 new infections were registered throughout Monday, raising the country's accumulated caseload to 156-thousand-167.

Of the new cases, 560 were local transmissions and 35 came from overseas.

The daily figure grew by over 90 and remained in the 500s for the second day. It marks the largest Monday figure since January 5, when it came to 714.

By region, the greater metro area accounted for nearly 80 percent of new domestic cases, including 201 in Seoul and 228 in Gyeonggi Province.

Two more deaths have been reported, bringing the death toll to two-thousand-17. The fatality rate stands at one-point-29 percent.

The number of critically ill patients rose by eleven from the previous day to 152.