SEOUL, Dec. 15 (Xinhua) -- South Korea reported 880 more cases of COVID-19 as of 0:00 a.m. Tuesday local time compared to 24 hours ago, raising the total number of infections to 44,364.

The daily caseload was higher than the previous day's 718, staying above 100 for 38 days since Nov. 8 due to small cluster infections in Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi province as well as imported cases.

The recent cluster infections were traceable to church services, nursing homes, workplaces, and private cram schools as well as gatherings among families and acquaintances.

Of the new cases, 246 were Seoul residents and 274 were people residing in Gyeonggi province.

Thirty-two were imported from overseas, lifting the combined figure to 4,962.

Thirteen more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 600. The total fatality rate stood at 1.35 percent.

A total of 457 more patients were discharged from quarantine after making full recovery, pulling up the combined number to 32,559. The total recovery rate was 73.39 percent.

Since Jan. 3, the country has tested more than 3.44 million people, among whom 3,303,383 tested negative for the virus and 93,473 are being checked.