Health authorities are not considering marking up the national crisis level for COVID-19 but are discussing ways to upgrade the task force on countering the infectious disease to a countermeasures headquarters. 

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency(KDCA) revealed such details as it explained its direction for addressing the latest rise in COVID-19 cases during a regular briefing on Monday. 

According to the KDCA, the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations this year began climbing from late June after posting a continuous decline from the first week of February. 

The number of patients admitted to hospitals for the virus grew by five-point-eight times in the past four weeks to 861 in the first week of this month. 

Son Young-rae, a senior official of the agency, said the number of COVID-19 cases is expected to continuously grow in the next two weeks. 

However, he was quick to add that the cumulative fatality rate stands at around zero-point-one percent, similar or lower than the fatality rate of the U.S. seasonal flu.