South Korea's daily new virus cases soared to a nearly six-month high Friday as infections in the greater Seoul area continued to spike amid woes over a potential surge in variant cases. The country reported 826 more COVID-19 cases, including 765 local infections, raising the total caseload to 158,549, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. The country added three more deaths, raising the death toll to 2,024, Yonhap reported.