SEOUL, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- South Korea reported 70,324 new COVID-19 cases as of midnight Tuesday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 26,725,053, the health authorities said Wednesday.

The daily caseload was down from 72,873 in the previous day, but it was higher than 66,569 tallied a week earlier, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

For the past week, the daily average number of new cases was 52,532.

Among the new cases, 69 were imported from overseas, lifting the total to 71,021.

The number of infected people who were in critical condition stood at 477, up 16 from the previous day.

Fifty-three more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 30,164.