South Korea reported 686 more cases of COVID-19 as of midnight Tuesday local time compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 39,432.

The daily caseload hovered between 400 and 700 for the past two weeks, growing in triple digits for 32 days since November 8 owing to small cluster infections in Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi province as well as imported cases. 

Of the new cases, 264 were Seoul residents and 214 were people residing in Gyeonggi province. 

Twenty-four were imported from overseas, lifting the combined figure to 4,789. Four more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 556. 

A total of 527 more patients were discharged from quarantine after making full recovery, lifting the combined number to 30,177. The total recovery rate was 76.53 percent. 

Since January 3, the country has tested more than 3.25 million people, among whom 3,138,724 tested negative for the virus and 75,080 are being checked.