Health authorities warn regions outside the greater Seoul area could also see a spike in COVID-19 infections, adding the country is at a critical juncture to stem that outflow. 

Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency(KDCA) Commissioner Jeong Eun-kyeong in a regular media briefing on Monday said there are multiple cluster infections emerging, as well as confirmation of the more transmissible Delta variant among them. 

According to KDCA, the cumulative number of infections involving the infectious Delta strain in South Korea climbed to 416 as of Sunday. Of the recent COVID-19 cases in the nation, 35-point-seven percent were diagnosed with variants, with the Delta variant accounting for four-point-five percent. 

KDCA chief also warned that the reproduction rate rose to one-point-two percent and that the portion of COVID-19 tests coming out positive also grew to one-point-eight percent.