South Korea saw new COVID-19 virus cases reach the triple digits for the second day in a row Saturday, as sporadic local infections in the greater Seoul area piled up again ahead of the three-day weekend holiday.

The country's new daily coronavirus cases reached 166 as of midnight Friday, raising the total caseload to 15,039, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). Of the new cases, 155 were local infections.

New daily infections reached triple digits for the second straight day, following 138 new cases reported as of 10 p.m.

Friday.

The new case number was the largest since March 11, when the country reported 242 new daily infections.

The KCDC has warned that the greater Seoul area is teetering on the brink of another spike in virus cases and that the easing of social distancing guidance may be rolled back if the upward trend continues.

On Friday, the government said it was considering strengthening the infection preventive measures in Seoul and neighboring areas by one notch to Level 2.

In June, South Korea adopted a three-tier social distancing scheme, under which the country is currently at Level 1 distancing measures. Level 2 could be applied if daily infections exceed 50 for 14 straight days but remain under 100.

South Korea, meanwhile, reported no additional fatalities, keeping the death toll at 305. The fatality rate was 2.03 percent.

The total number of people released from quarantine after making full recoveries stood at 13,901, up 38 from the previous day. (Yonhap)