Half of children aged nine and below have been infected with COVID-19, health authorities said Saturday.

The accumulated number of infected children in the age bracket had reached 1,887,337 as of Saturday, according to Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.

That translates into nearly 50,190 out of every 100,000 in the age group being infected with the virus, marking the highest infection rate among other age groups, the health agency said.

The infection rate in the 10-19 age group was second highest, with 43,289 out of every 100,000 infected with the virus.

Source: Yonhap News Agency