South Korea added over 18-thousand COVID-19 cases on Monday as the downward trend of the latest wave of the pandemic falters.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said that 18-thousand-510 cases were newly compiled the previous day, including 56 overseas infections, bringing the total caseload to around 25 million-557-thousand.

The daily tally dropped by around 16-thousand from a day ago apparently due to fewer tests administered on the weekends, but rose by some four-thousand from a week ago and about 75-hundred from two weeks ago. It was the largest in six weeks for Monday tallies since some 19-thousand cases on September 19.

The number of seriously or critically ill patients rose by 16 from a day ago to 288.

Eighteen more people died of the virus, raising the death toll to 29-thousand-176 with the fatality rate at zero-point-11 percent.