SEOUL, April 21 (Xinhua) -- South Korea reported nine more cases of the COVID-19 compared to 24 hours ago as of midnight Tuesday local time, raising the total number of infections to 10,683.

The daily caseload hovered around 10 for the fourth straight day after reporting 18 on Saturday, eight on Sunday and 13 on Monday each.

Of the new cases, five were imported from overseas, raising the combined number to 1,011.

One more death was confirmed, lifting the death toll to 237. The total fatality rate came in at 2.22 percent.

A total of 99 more patients were discharged from quarantine after making full recovery, pulling up the combined number to 8,213. The total recovery rate was 76.9 percent.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) has updated the data once a day at 10:00 a.m. local time from March 10 after having announced it twice a day.

Except for the first 30 cases, all the infections have been reported since Feb. 18. The country has raised its four-tier virus alert to the highest "red" level.

The total number of infections in Daegu, about 300 km southeast of Seoul, and its surrounding North Gyeongsang province came to 6,835 and 1,361 respectively, accounting for almost 80 percent of the total.

The numbers in Seoul and its adjacent Gyeonggi province came in at 626 and 658 each.

Daegu became the epicenter of the viral spread here as the biggest cluster of infections was found in the metropolis with a 2.5 million population. Daegu has been designated by the government as a "special disaster zone."

The Daegu cluster was closely linked to the church services of a homegrown minor religious sect, called Sincheonji, in Daegu. Members of the sect were known to sit on the floor closely side by side during church services.

Since Jan. 3, the country has tested more than 571,000 people, among whom 547,610 tested negative for the virus and 12,721 were being checked.