A medical worker applies a pulse oximeter on a patient, following the coronavirus outbreak, in Athens, Greece. Reuters

More than 15.8 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 638,271 have died from COVID-19, according to a Reuters tally, published on Saturday.

Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019.

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South Korea has reported 113 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 over the past 24 hours, its first daily jump over 100 in nearly four months.

But the rise was predictable as health authorities had forecast a temporary spike driven by imported infections found among cargo ship crews and hundreds of South Korean construction workers airlifted out of virus-ravaged Iraq.

Paramedics prepare to transfer a patient in east London during the novel coronavirus pandemic. AFP

The figures released by South Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Saturday brought the national caseload to 14,092, including 298 deaths.

The KCDC said 86 of the new cases were linked to international arrivals while the other 27 were local transmissions. It said the imported cases included 36 South Korean workers who returned from Iraq and 32 crew members of a Russia-flagged cargo ship docked in the southern port of Busan.

Relatives use ropes to lower the body of a person who died of COVID-19 in New Delhi, India. File/AP

South Korean officials consider imported cases as less threatening than local transmissions because of mandatory tests and a two-week quarantine for all overseas arrivals.

Kwon Jun-wook, director of South Korea’s National Institute of Health, said during a briefing Friday afternoon that the newly reported cases the next morning would likely exceed 100 for the first time since April 1 and urged the public not to be overly alarmed by it.

He said 89 of the 293 South Korean workers who arrived home Friday aboard two military planes from Iraq were exhibiting symptoms.

South Korea has been dealing with a virus resurgence since easing social distancing guidelines in mid-April. Health authorities over the past week have found new clusters tied to churches, welfare centers, office buildings and a front-line army unit.

Agencies