SEOUL - South Korea confirmed 161 more cases of the COVID-19 on Monday, raising the total number of infections to 763, while the death toll rose to seven.

As of 9:00 am local time (0000 GMT), the number of infected patients totaled 763, up 161 from the prior day. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) has updated the data twice a day at 10:00 am and 5:00 pm local time.

The country raised its four-tier virus alert to the highest "red" level on Sunday as the virus infections soared for the past week. A total of 571 new cases were reported from Wednesday to Sunday.

Of the new patients, 142 were residents in Daegu, about 300 km southeast of the capital Seoul, and its surrounding North Gyeongsang province.

The total number of infections in Daegu and North Gyeongsang province increased to 636.

A total of 458 cases were linked to the church services of a minor religious group, called Sincheonji, in Daegu. It was up from 329 in the previous day.

Among the 9,336 Sincheonji followers attending the church services, 1,276 showed symptoms of the virus infection as of Sunday, according to Yonhap news agency. The other 670 followers were not reached for contact.

The other 112 cases were traced to Daenam Hospital in Cheongdo county, just south of Daegu. Test for all of 652 patients and medical staff was completed as almost all the patients at the hospital's psychiatric ward tested positive for the virus.

One more death was confirmed, raising the death toll to seven. Five of the deaths were linked to the hospital.

The government designated Deagu and Cheongdo as a "special care zone" Friday, while protest rallies were banned in downtown areas of Seoul.

Since Jan 3, the country has tested around 28,000 people, among whom 19,127 tested negative for the COVID-19 virus and 8,725 were being checked.