Daily COVID-19 cases soared above 170-thousand to hit a new record on Wednesday, with nearly 100 deaths reported.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said on Wednesday that 171-thousand-452 cases were compiled throughout the previous day, including 181 cases from overseas. The total caseload came to two million-329-thousand-182.

The daily figure soared by over 70-thousand from a day ago to surpass 170-thousand. The latest number is over 60-thousand more than the previous record, 109-thousand-822, set last Friday. The figure is doubling almost every week.

With the soaring infections, the number of critical patients also rose by 32 to 512. Some institutions expect the figure to rise above one-thousand early next month.

The ICU occupancy rate for critical COVID-19 patients also rose slightly to 36-point-nine percent nationwide as of 5 p.m. Tuesday.

The number of deaths from the virus also soared to nearly 100, with 99 deaths reported in the past 24 hours. The death toll rose to seven-thousand-607, with the fatality rate standing at zero-point-33 percent.

The number of home-treatment patients surpassed 500-thousand to reach 521-thousand.