People wearing face masks walk past Christmas decorations at the Myeongdong shopping area in Seoul, South Korea, Dec. 8, 2020.(Photo: Xinhua)
A man wearing a face mask walks past a store whose goods are on sale at the Myeongdong shopping area in Seoul, South Korea, Dec. 8, 2020.(Photo: Xinhua)
People wearing face masks visit the Myeongdong shopping area in Seoul, South Korea, Dec. 8, 2020.(Photo: Xinhua)
A woman wearing a face mask visits the Myeongdong shopping area in Seoul, South Korea, Dec. 8, 2020.(Photo: Xinhua)
South Korea decided Sunday to raise its social-distancing rules in the Seoul metropolitan area by one notch to the second-highest level for three weeks amid a spike in COVID-19 cases for the past month.
The country's five-tier social-distancing regulations will be lifted to Level 2.5 for the next three weeks in the capital area, which covers Seoul, its surrounding Gyeonggi province and the western port city of Incheon.
The distancing guidelines had been elevated to Level 2 for two weeks from Nov. 24 to Dec. 7, but the virus spread had yet to be contained in the metropolitan region.