Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said Saturday that despite meaningful indicators such as the number of daily recoveries from the coronavirus exceeding new infections, the outbreak is rather expanding its front.

Chairing a COVID-19 response meeting at Daegu City Hall, Chung said that cluster infections in metropolitan Seoul and Sejong City are emerging as a risk factor and transmissions from overseas also need to be blocked.

He said the government will work hard to come up with effective measures to deal with the expanded front and new risks.

Concerning new guidelines on face mask purchases introduced from Monday, the prime minister said that only people who didn't buy masks this past week can buy them Saturday and Sunday.

Starting this week, consumers can buy only two masks per person per week at pharmacies or post offices on a designated day according to their birth year.

He said the new rules are not perfect, can be inconvenient and will not successfully work without the public's understanding and cooperation.

But he said fortunately there was no major confusion this week and promised full government efforts to expand the supply of masks.

Chung also noted that over 160 billion won in donations have come in from all over the country to help fight the outbreak and asked related agencies to have the funds swiftly delivered to where they are needed the most.