SEOUL — South Korea"s daily new coronavirus cases topped the 1,000 mark for the fourth consecutive day on Saturday on continued cluster infections nationwide, deepening concerns over hospital bed shortages for seriously ill patients, Yonhap reported. The country added 1,053 more COVID-19 cases, including 1,029 local infections, raising the total caseload to 48,570, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). It is the first time that the daily number has stayed above 1,000 for four straight days. After reaching a record high of 1,078 on Wednesday, the daily caseload inched down to 1,014 the following day and then bounced back to 1,062 on Friday. Cluster infections have been breaking out across the country, with senior care hospitals, religious facilities, schools and offices hit particularly hard. Of the locally transmitted cases, more than 70 percent were from the greater Seoul area, which is home to around half of the country"s population of more than 50 million. The continued surge in new cases has caused the shortage in hospital beds for COVID-19 patients. This month alone, six patients have died of the disease without getting treatment while waiting to be admitted to hospitals, and the figure is feared to grow as the number of critically ill patients has been rising faster than before. The number of seriously or critically ill COVID-19 patients came to 275 Saturday, up 29 from the previous day. The KDCA reported 14 additional deaths, raising the total to 659. The government said it has been working to mobilize all resources available and to partner with private medical institutions to prepare more beds to prevent additional fatalities. — SPA