Seoul, April 19, 2021, SPA -- South Korea has confirmed 70 more cases of contagious variants of the new coronavirus, bringing the total to 449, according to health authorities Monday, amid concerns that the country's virus battle may be exacerbated by the more transmissible viruses, Yonhap News Agency reported. According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), 64 cases are the Britain-originated variant, followed by five from South Africa and one from Brazil. Of them, 35 people were local infections and 35 were imported cases. The country added 532 more COVID-19 cases on Monday, falling back below 600 for the first time in six days, with the total caseload at 114,646, the KDCA said. --SPA 14:45 LOCAL TIME 11:45 GMT 0021 www.spa.gov.sa/w1545592