SEOUL, March 11 (Xinhua) -- South Korea confirmed 242 more cases of the COVID-19 compared to 24 hours ago as of midnight Wednesday local time, raising the total number of infections to 7,755.

Six more deaths were reported, lifting the death toll to 61. The total fatality rate stood at 0.77 percent.

Forty-one more patients were discharged from quarantine after making full recovery, raising the combined number to 288.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) decided to update the data once a day at 10:00 a.m. local time beginning Tuesday, after having announced it twice a day.

The virus infection soared for the past three weeks, with 7,724 new cases reported from Feb. 19 to March 10. 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 increased to 5,794 and 1,135 respectively. It accounted for about 90 percent of the total.

The numbers in Seoul and its adjacent Gyeonggi province came to 193 and 175 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 care 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 are known to sit on the floor closely side by side during church services.

Fifty-two new cases were reported in Seoul as a small cluster infection was found at a call center in southern Seoul.

The Seoul city government was considering an administrative order to temporarily ban the businesses, done in the confined spaces, such as Internet cafés and karaoke rooms as well as call centers.

Since Jan. 3, the country has tested more than 222,000 people, among whom 196,100 tested negative for the virus and 18,540 were being checked.