SEOUL - South Korea on Friday confirmed 52 more cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), raising the total number of infections to 156.

As of 9:00 am local time (0000GMT Friday), the number of infected patients totaled 156, up 52 from the previous day. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) has updated the figure twice a day at 10:00 am and 5:00 pm local time.

Of the new patients, 41 were in the city of Daegu, about 300 km southeast of the capital Seoul, and its surrounding North Gyeongsang province.

The number of COVID-19 infections increased sharply in just three days, after 20 new cases were reported on Wednesday and 53 more cases reported on Thursday.

Most of the new cases in recent days were linked to church services in Daegu. Of the 52 new patients, 39 attended the same church services.

Since Jan 3, the country has tested more than 14,000 people, among whom 11,953 tested negative for the COVID-19 virus and 2,707 were being checked.