SEOUL, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- South Korea reported 346 more cases of COVID-19 as of midnight Thursday compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 74,262.

The daily caseload fell below 400 in three days, staying below 500 for five straight days. It peaked at 1,240 on Dec. 25.

The virus spread showed signs of moderating this year, but the daily number of infections 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, 113 were Seoul residents and 102 were people residing in Gyeonggi province.

Thirty-two were imported from overseas, lifting the combined figure to 6,062.

Twelve more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 1,328. The total fatality rate stood at 1.79 percent.

A total of 569 more patients were discharged from quarantine after making full recovery, pulling up the combined number to 61,415. The total recovery rate was 82.70 percent.

The country tested more than 5.28 million people, among whom 5,074,830 tested negative for the virus and 133,132 are being checked.