Health authorities raised the nation's COVID-19 risk level for last week from "low" to "intermediate" for the first time in eight weeks as the average number of daily cases jumped 87 percent compared to a week earlier.

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters on Tuesday, the weekly risk level nationwide as well as specifically for the capital region and for other areas during the first week of July was assessed to be "intermediate."

Authorities said the adjustment was made in consideration of the resurgence of the virus, the virus reproduction number and the death toll.

The reproduction number, which declined to zero-point-74 in the first week of June, climbed for five consecutive weeks to hit one-point-four.

Officials forecast the virus' resurgence to continue in the wake of the emergence of the omicron variant BA.5, which is assessed to have a higher tendency to evade immunity compared to the delta or previous omicron variants.