South Korea's new COVID-19 cases fell to the lowest Friday tally in 11 weeks, with health authorities staying on high alert over rising imported cases from China and other regions.

The country reported 39,726 new COVID-19 infections, including 137 cases from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 29,737,769, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said.

The tally marked the lowest for any Friday since Oct. 28, when the country reported 35,913 new cases.

The country added 51 COVID-19 deaths, bringing the death toll to 32,867. The number of critically ill patients came to 511, up from 510 the previous day, the KDCA said.

The South Korean government has ramped up monitoring for overseas visitors amid the recent surge in infections in China following the abrupt lifting of its zero-COVID policy in December.

Of the 137 new cases of overseas infections reported Friday, 84, or 61.3 percent, were from China, the public health agency said. (Yonhap)