South Korea's new COVID-19 cases stood above 75,000 on Thursday, up by nearly 5,600 from a week earlier, as the virus wave continues to spread in the winter.

The country reported 75,744 new COVID-19 infections, including 73 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 28,466,390, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said.

The latest daily count is up by 5,590 from a week ago. South Korea has seen a steady rise in the infection numbers in recent weeks amid growing fears of a winter resurgence. One in 6 people have now been reinfected with COVID-19, the KDCA earlier said.

South Korea added 62 more deaths from the coronavirus, raising the death toll to 31,611. The fatality rate stayed unchanged at 0.11 percent.

The number of critically ill patients came to 547, up 35 from the previous day. (Yonhap)