The nation reported over 65-thousand new COVID-19 cases amid the continued upsurge in infections nationwide.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said on Sunday that 65-thousand-433 cases were compiled throughout the previous day, including 333 cases from abroad.

The country's cumulative caseload came to about 19 million-211-thousand.

The daily tally dropped by some three-thousand from a day ago, but increased one-point-62 times from a week ago and three-point-two times from two weeks ago. The figure marks the largest for Sunday tallies in 14 weeks.

With the rise in infections, the number of seriously or critically ill COVID-19 patients is also increasing. The figure rose by six from a day earlier to hit a 51-day high at 146, more than doubling from a week ago.

Saturday added 18 deaths, raising the death toll to 24-thousand-873. The fatality rate remains at zero-point-13 percent.

The occupancy rate of hospital beds for seriously ill COVID-19 patients also rose to 21-point-three percent, up two-point-four percentage points from a day earlier.