South Korea reported 60 new confirmed cases of coronavirus on Tuesday, bringing the total infections here to 893. But the cases in the morning update were fewer than the spike of 161 cases a day earlier.

So far, eight people have died in South Korea from the new virus that emerged in China.

Two clusters of infections -- at a branch of a religious sect in the southeastern city of Daegu and a hospital in the neighboring county of Cheongdo -- have continued to expand sharply, taking up more than half of the total cases in the country.

The two latest victims of the potentially fatal illness are tied to Daenam Hospital in Cheongdo, near Daegu. Six out of the eight deaths are linked to the hospital where over 110 people were confirmed to have been infected.

Of the 60 new cases, 49 are in Daegu, 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, and neighboring North Gyeongsang Province. Sixteen new cases were confirmed in Daegu, and 33 new cases were reported in North Gyeongsang Province.

Nearly all major provinces and cities have reported some infections, with Seoul reporting another two cases, the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said in a statement.

Busan, South Korea's second-largest city, reported three new cases and Gyeonggi Province reported five new cases on Tuesday morning, the KCDC said.

Since raising the virus alert level to "red," the highest level, on Sunday, health authorities have focused on halting the spread of the virus in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province.

South Korea confirmed its first new coronavirus case from a Chinese woman from Wuhan, the epicenter of the virus outbreak, on Jan. 20.

South Korea has released 22 fully recovered novel coronavirus patients from hospitals as of Tuesday morning, the KCDC said.

The number of people being checked for the virus and under quarantine came to 13,273, it added. The country has tested a total of 35,823 suspected cases, with 22,550 testing negative. (Yonhap)