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| People wearing face masks walk past ticket gates at a subway station in Seoul, Friday, Nov. 13, 2020. AP |
South Korea's new coronavirus cases hovered above 300 on Wednesday to reach the highest level since late August, setting alarm bells ringing over another potential wave of the pandemic.
The country added 313 more COVID-19 cases, including 245 local infections, raising the total caseload to 29,311, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
The daily figure exceeded 300 for the first time since Aug. 29, with the daily caseload hovering over 200 in the last four days.
Cluster infections from private gatherings, public facilities and hospitals continued to occur in several parts of the nation, making it harder for health authorities to pin down potential cases and curb the spread of the virus.
A sports facility, a sauna and a factory in Seoul have each reported more than 10 cases. A facility for the disabled in Cherwon, Gangwon Province, was linked to 17 infections, and a university hospital in Gwangju had 26 more.
To slow down the fast spread of COVID-19, health authorities raised the social distancing by one notch to Level 1.5 under a new five-tier scheme in the Seoul metropolitan area and southern city of Gwangju, effective starting Thursday.
It will take effect starting Monday in Incheon, west of Seoul, considering the less severe outbreak in the city, while some remote counties will remain under the Level 1 distancing.
The latest measure comes as the daily average number of patients in the greater Seoul area, which houses around half of the nation's population, stood at 113.3 over the past week, surpassing the threshold for Level 1.5 for the region.
Some cities, including Cheonan and Asan in South Chungcheong Province; Wonju in Gangwon Province; and Suncheon, Gwangyang and Yeosu in South Jeolla Province, have already adopted Level 1.5 to cope with rising cases in the regions.
People are still allowed to carry on with most of their daily routines under Level 1.5, but business operators and people are required to follow toughened public health regulations.
Under Level 1.5, facilities with higher risk of virus infection, such as bars, clubs and indoor concert halls, are required to adopt stricter quarantine measures, such as keeping a distance between tables and setting up partitions.
Among the locally transmitted cases, the capital city of Seoul accounted for 91 cases, and Gyeonggi Province that surrounds Seoul reported 81. Incheon, west of Seoul, had nine more.
The average daily number of new cases in the greater Seoul area, which houses around half of the nation's population, stood at 125.6 over the past week.
Provinces outside of Seoul also saw a hike in new infections from various occasions and places.
South Jeolla Province reported 15 additional cases, followed by North Gyeongsang Province with 12 and the southern city of Gwangju and South Gyeongsang Province with nine each.
The country added 68 imported cases, sharply up from 28 the previous day. Twenty-three were from the United States, 18 were from Russia and 11 were from Mexico.
The number of seriously or critically ill COVID-19 patients came to 67, up from 60 on Tuesday.
The KDCA reported two additional deaths, raising the total to 496. The fatality rate was 1.69 percent.
The number of people released from quarantine after making full recoveries came to 113, raising the total to 25,973. (Yonhap)
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