Health authorities reported nearly seven-thousand new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, with critical cases and deaths both hitting new highs.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency(KDCA) said Thursday that six-thousand-919 infections were reported throughout the previous day, raising the country's accumulated caseload to 589-thousand-978.

The daily tally dropped by over 500 from a day ago and by over 700 from a week ago. The drop is likely due to the enhanced social distancing measures, which were enforced from Saturday. 

However, the number of critically ill patients hit a new high of one-thousand-83, up 20 from the previous day. The figure remained above one-thousand for the third consecutive day. 

The daily number of deaths surpassed 100 for the first time to hit a record 109, raising the death toll to five-thousand-15. The fatality rate stands at zero-point-85 percent. 

The number of omicron infections also rose by 12 to 246.