South Korea's new COVID-19 cases remained above 60,000 for the fifth straight day Saturday amid concerns of a surge in cases during the winter season.

The country reported 66,930 new COVID-19 infections, including 56 from overseas, bringing the total to 28,129,431, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.

It marks the highest daily figure for a Saturday in 15 weeks, after the country reported 79,708 cases on Sept. 3.

The daily caseload jumped to over 86,000 on Tuesday, the highest in three months, before falling below 70,000 on Friday.

Health authorities remain on alert over another virus surge as the government mulls whether to lift the country's indoor mask mandate, the last remaining COVID-19 restriction.

The KDCA plans to give a briefing on its indoor mask mandate readjustment plan on Friday.

The country added 55 COVID-19 deaths on Saturday, bringing the death toll to 31,353. The number of critically ill patients stood at 468, down six from the previous day.

Of the 66,874 locally transmitted infections, 12,402 cases came from Seoul, 18,021 from Gyeonggi Province surrounding the capital and 4,053 from the western port city of Incheon, according to KDCA data. (Yonhap)