ⓒYONHAP News

The government has decided to raise caps on private gatherings to eight from the current six, but will keep the 11 p.m. curfew on business hours for restaurants and cafes.

Announcing the latest social distancing measures on Friday, Health and Welfare Minister Kwon Deok-cheol said it was time to revise the guideline after two weeks, but the risks were still too high to significantly relax the rules.

He noted the rapid spread of the omicron variant, the increasing burden on the medical system and uncertainties in projections regarding the peak of the omicron wave.

Regarding criticism that the adjustment may be hasty as the peak still remains uncertain, Kwon said the decision was in consideration of small businesses and the self-employed hurt by the pandemic.

The new social distancing measures will be effective for two weeks starting Monday.

South Korea reported more than 620-thousand new COVID-19 cases on Thursday, the largest daily tally since the outbreak.

The spike in cases came after the government began accepting the results of rapid antigen testing by medical professionals without the need for further Polymerase Chain Reaction(PCR) tests.

Under the temporary move, people who test positive from the rapid antigen tests at over 75-hundred clinics and medical institutions nationwide can receive treatment and prescriptions from the institutions without also completing a PCR test at public health centers to confirm their infection.

The medical institutions will notify the confirmed patients that they are required to self-quarantine and may prescribe Paxlovid COVID-19 antiviral pills for patients aged over 60.

The medical institutions will report the infections to public health centers, which will then take a series of administrative measures.