South Korea has recorded its highest daily rise in
coronavirus cases as it reported 397 new infections as on midnight Saturday,
reported Reuters, quoting the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(KCDC). The cases that rose from previous day’s 332 marked the rise of
three-digit numbers for more than a week now.

The report stated that the outbreaks continued to spread from
a church located in Seoul and political demonstrations its members had
attended.

The rise in cases brings South Korea’s total number of
infections to 17,399 and recorded 309 deaths.

In the wake of the rising cases, the government imposed a second-tier
social distancing rules in areas outside Seoul. This means ban of in-person
church meetings, closing nightclubs, buffets and cyber cafes.

If the surge of the cases doesn’t slow down, heath
authorities are mulling deploying the stage 3 social-distancing rules that
include schools and offices to shut down.

On August 21, South Korea health authorities warned that
infections are back in ‘full swing’ as hundred of infections have been reported
from the Sarang Jeil Presbyterian Church run by a far-right preacher.

Church members attending an anti-government
protest in Seoul on August 15 have also led to new cases across the country.

South Korea endured one of the worst early outbreaks
outside mainland China but brought it broadly under control with extensive
tracing and testing while never imposing the kind of lockdowns ordered in much
of Europe and other parts of the world.

The country has been seen as a model on how to combat the
pandemic with the public largely following safety health measures such as face
masks.