South Korea has reported over 70-thousand new COVID-19 cases for the third day in a row amid the continued upsurge in infections nationwide.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency(KDCA) said on Thursday that 71-thousand-170 cases were compiled throughout the previous day, including 320 cases from abroad.

The country's cumulative caseload has now surpassed 19 million to reach 19 million-nine-thousand-80.

The daily tally dropped by over five-thousand from a day ago but remained above 70-thousand for a third day. The figure increased one-point-eight times from a week ago and three-point-eight times from two weeks ago. It marks the largest Thursday tally in 13 weeks.

With the resurgence in infections, the number of seriously or critically ill COVID-19 patients is also rising. The figure rose by eleven from a day earlier to 107, surpassing 100 for the first time in 40 days.

The occupancy rate of hospital beds for seriously ill COVID-19 patients also rose to 17-point-four percent, up one percentage point from a day earlier.

Wednesday added 17 deaths, raising the death toll to 24-thousand-794. The fatality rate remains unchanged at zero-point-13 percent.