The number of heat-related illnesses this year are double the count from the same period last year in the wake of a record-breaking heat wave.

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency(KDCA) on Tuesday, 98 people were admitted to emergency rooms around the country for heat-related illnesses the previous day.

Between May 20 and July 6, this year's cumulative count of 961 patients at about 500 emergency rooms more than doubled compared to 478 from a year earlier.

Seven people are assumed to have died from the heat so far this year, more than double the tally of three from the same period last year.

Fifty-six-point-one percent of the patients experienced heat exhaustion, followed by 20-point-four percent suffering heatstroke, and 12-point-eight percent reporting heat cramps.