SEOUL: South Korea has recorded its largest daily increase in coronavirus infections in nearly three months as it gets set to tighten social distancing rules in the greater Seoul area.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency reported 313 new cases on Wednesday, raising the country’s total to 29,311, including 496 deaths.
It’s the first time the country's daily caseload exceeded 300 since late August.
South Korea is struggling to contain a spike in new infections since it eased its stringent social distancing rules last month. The new cases are tied to hospitals, nursing homes, churches, schools, offices and family gatherings.
Local health authorities said Tuesday that they would tighten distancing restrictions in the densely populated Seoul area and some parts of eastern Gangwon province. Those areas are at the center of the recent spikes.
Under the new rules, which come into effect Thursday for two weeks in those areas, gatherings of more than 100 people during rallies, festivals and concerts will be prohibited. They will also require people to sit at least one seat apart from each other in theaters, concert halls and libraries while limiting audiences at sporting events to 30% of the stadium’s capacity.