SEOUL, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- South Korea reported 72,873 new COVID-19 cases as of midnight Monday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 26,654,729, the health authorities said Tuesday.

The daily caseload was up from 23,091 in the previous day and slightly higher than 72,866 tallied a week earlier, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

For the past week, the daily average number of new cases was 51,996.

Among the new cases, 81 were imported from overseas, lifting the total to 70,952.

The number of infected people who were in critical condition stood at 461, down 4 from the previous day.

Forty-five more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 30,111.