SEOUL, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- South Korea reported 389 more cases of COVID-19 as of midnight Monday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 72,729.

The daily caseload fell below 400 in 54 days since Nov. 25, but it hovered above 100 since Nov. 8 owing to small cluster infections in Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi province as well as imported cases.

Of the new cases, 128 were Seoul residents and 103 were people residing in Gyeonggi province.

Twenty-three were imported from overseas, lifting the combined figure to 5,945.

Fifteen more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 1,264. The total fatality rate stood at 1.74 percent.

A total of 470 more patients were discharged from quarantine after making full recovery, pulling up the combined number to 58,723. The total recovery rate was 80.74 percent.

The country tested more than 5.08 million people, among whom 4,856,456 tested negative for the virus and 158,035 are being checked.