More than 900 COVID-19 patients in the Seoul metropolitan area are waiting a day or longer for a hospital bed assignment due to the recent uptick in new cases in the region.

According to health authorities, the waiting list, which had no names when the nation began a transition into living with the virus on November 1, had 907 people as of 12:00 a.m. Monday, up 103 from the previous day.

Four-hundred-66 were aged 70 or older, while 440 others had existing health conditions, such as high blood pressure or diabetes.

Authorities said demand for hospital beds surged amid the resurgence involving elderly patients.

As of 5:00 p.m. Sunday, 83-point-three percent of beds for critical patients were occupied in the capital area, with only 116 vacant. The occupation rate nationwide stood at 69-point-five percent, up by nearly three percentage points.