Seoul, March 29, 2021, SPA – The Republic of Korea on Monday reported 40 more new cases of COVID-19 variants, including 22 local infections, amid growing woes over the spread of more transmissible strains,Yonhap News Agency reported. Of the additional cases, 38 people were confirmed to have been infected with the coronavirus variant believed to have originated in Britain, followed by the South Africa variant with two cases, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The total number of the three types of variant cases confirmed here since October last year came to 289. So far, variants traced to Britain accounted for 249, followed by South Africa with 32 and Brazil with eight. The country, meanwhile, reported 384 more COVID-19 cases on Monday, including 370 local infections, raising the total caseload to 102,141. --SPA 12:40 LOCAL TIME 09:40 GMT 0014 www.spa.gov.sa/w1532467