SEOUL, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- South Korea reported 280 more cases of the COVID-19 as of 0:00 a.m. Tuesday local time compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 17,945.

The daily caseload stayed below 300 for two straight days while growing in triple digits for 12 straight days.

The number of confirmed cases for the past 12 days reached 3,175 due to infections in Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi province.

The infections were traceable to church services of Sarang Jeil Church in Seoul and a massive rally held in central Seoul on Aug. 15.

Of the new cases, 134 were Seoul residents and 63 were people residing in Gyeonggi province. Sixteen were imported from overseas, lifting the combined figure to 2,750.

One more death was confirmed, leaving the death toll at 310. The total fatality rate stood at 1.73 percent.

A total of 67 more patients were discharged from quarantine after making full recovery, pulling up the combined number to 14,286. The total recovery rate was 79.61 percent.

Since Jan. 3, the country has tested more than 1.82 million people, among whom 1,757,530 tested negative for the virus and 50,362 are being checked.