Although new virus cases are decreasing, the number of Covid-19 deaths recorded a three-digit figure for the first time in more than 100 days on Thursday, raising concerns among experts.

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), Korea confirmed 113,371 new infections, down from 139,339 on Wednesday, bringing the total caseload to 22,701,921. However, the country reported 108 Covid-19 deaths, bringing the death toll to 26,332.

It is the first time in 118 days that the number of deaths recorded triple digits since 136 people died on April 29.

The daily Covid-19 deaths once dropped to two later but have recently risen above 80 due to the impact of the new subvariant. As a result, the fatality rate also rose 0.12 percent, according to the KDCA. However, the government reiterated that they were not particularly alarmed as Korea's severity and fatality rate remain low compared to other major countries.

"Korea's death toll per 1 million patients is the lowest when compared to the U.S., Singapore, and Japan," Jung Ki-suck, head of the National Advisory Committee on Infectious Disease Crisis Response, said during a daily task force briefing on Aug. 17. "The aggravation rate was 0.12-0.20 percent during the peak of the Omicron outbreak but has since fallen to 0.08 percent in the fourth week of July, and the fatality rate is also dropping."

However, experts pointed out the government statistics’ inaccuracy and urged the government to set up a more active policy against the ongoing resurgence.

"Government figures on the number of critically ill patients and deaths are not very accurate," Professor Kim Woo-joo of the Infectious Disease Department at Korea University Guro Hospital said. "Also, we should compare our situation with Asian countries rather than the U.S. or the U.K., which have all but given up quarantine reinforcement."

Kim stressed that compared to neighboring Asian countries, Korea's fatality rate is not low.

"It is true that Korea's death toll per 100,000 people is lower than the U.S., U.K., and France," Kim said. "However, according to a recent article in 'The Diplomat,' a U.S. diplomatic magazine, Korea had 49 deaths per 100,000 people, about double the number of Japan's 27, and higher than New Zealand, Singapore, and Taiwan."

Kim stressed that what is more worrisome is Korea's seven-day cumulative case fatality rate, which fell to 0.04 percent in early August and rose to 0.06 percent as of Aug. 14, according to the international statistics site, Our World In Data.

"This means that the fatality rate increased by 50 percent in such a short period," Kim said. "Even if we admit that Korea's fatality rate is lower than other countries, it is still not a level where we can let down our guard."

Professor Shin Sang-yeop, a senior research fellow at Korea Medical Institute, stressed that the continued increase in severe cases and deaths might have to do with the country detecting fewer Covid-19 cases than in previous outbreaks.

"Although the rate of increase in new cases has slowed, there are many cases of severe cases and deaths," Shin said. "This is because the number of infections detected by diagnostic tests has decreased considerably compared with the past."

According to Shin, when the country confirmed 550,000 daily cases during the peak of the past Omicron outbreak last spring, authorities confirmed about 1,300 severe cases after about two weeks.

"Therefore, it is hard to believe that the current number of severe cases in the 400-500 range came from the 100,000 to 110,000 confirmed cases reported about two weeks ago," Shin said. "This is why I assume that the number of confirmed cases about two weeks ago may be much higher, around 200,000 to 300,000."

Shin stressed that many hidden infected people avoid testing because they have mild or no symptoms.