South Korea raised the travel advisory for two more provinces in Italy on Monday as the number of novel coronavirus cases is soaring in the European country.  

The Foreign Ministry on Monday issued a Level 2 advisory, which calls for people to refrain from travel, for Piedmont and Marche in the country's northwest and central east, respectively.

South Korea issued the travel alert for areas of northern Italy -- Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna and Veneto -- last month.   

Announcing the raised travel alert, the ministry said that about 90 percent of Italy's recent COVID-19 infections are from the five provinces.

The ministry then urged South Korean nationals residing in those areas to take extra caution to protect their health and safety, while advising those planning trips there to carefully reconsider their visits.