Health and Welfare Minister Park Neung-hoo said on Monday that South Korea is at a crossroads for raising its social distancing guidelines amid a spike in COVID-19 infections.

The minister made the comment in his opening remarks at a government meeting on the pandemic response. 

Noting the serious virus situation, Park said that the daily number of local infections has remained over 100 for five consecutive days with the daily number including imported cases surpassing 200 over the weekend. 

The minister said that the nation is witnessing continued outbreaks from places closely linked to daily life and from family gatherings. 

He urged the public to keep vigilant against the virus and to practice quarantine measures all the time such as wearing masks.