Daily COVID-19 cases climbed to a new high on Sunday, staying over ten-thousand for the fifth consecutive day.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said Sunday that 17-thousand-532 infections were reported throughout Saturday, including 229 from overseas. The total caseload came to 828-thousand-637.

The daily tally increased by six from a day ago, replacing new highs for six days in a row amid the rapid spread of the highly transmissible omicron variant.

Despite the spike, the number of critically ill patients is down by eleven from the previous day at 277.

Twenty people died of the virus in the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to six-thousand-732. The fatality rate stands at zero-point-81 percent.

The ICU bed occupancy rate was around 15-point-six percent nationwide as of 5 p.m. Saturday, down one-point-four percentage points from a day earlier.

The capital region accounts for 64 percent of new domestic cases, including some 56-hundred in Gyeonggi Province and over 41-hundred in Seoul.