South Korea began reviewing the possibility of raising social distancing to Level Three after the daily COVID-19 increase surged to a near six-month high. 

The Central Disaster Countermeasures Headquarters said on Thursday that the government is aware of the gravity of the current situation and is looking into all possible countermeasures, including elevating the distancing level. 

Authorities said necessary steps will be taken promptly and in a resolute manner. 

Earlier, authorities said as of 12:00 a.m. Thursday, 441 additional people tested positive, raising the accumulated total to 18-thousand-706. 

The latest daily increase is the largest since the peak of the first wave involving the Shincheonji religious sect in the southeastern city of Daegu on March 7. 

Amid clusters linked to churches and a recent anti-government rally in the Seoul metropolitan area, the daily increase has stayed above 100 for 14 consecutive days since August 14, with nearly four-thousand people newly infected.