S.Korea reports 261 more cases of Covid variants

Seoul, June 22 (IANS) South Korea reported 261 more cases of Covid-19 variants in the past week, bringing the total number of such infections to 2,225, health authorities said on Tuesday.Among the new cases reported since June 13, 34 were imported from overseas while the remaining 227 were locally transmitted, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).Of the new cases, 223 were of the Alpha variant, 35 Delta variant, two Beta and one of the Zeta strain.Out of the total variant cases, 1,886 stemmed from Britain, 190 from India, 142 from South Africa and seven from Brazil.The four variants are believed to be more transmissible than the original one.In the latest tally, South Korea reported 395 new for the past 24 hours, raising the total number of infections to 151,901.Among the new cases, 44 were imported from overseas, lifting the combined figure to 9,611.The death toll stood at 2,006.
--IANS ksk/