The daily COVID-19 increase in South Korea surged to the mid-300s amid concerns over a new wave of the epidemic.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency(KDCA) said as of 12:00 a.m. Thursday, 343 additional people tested positive, raising the country's cumulative total to 29-thousand-654.

The daily increase continued to climb after surpassing 300 the previous day for the first time in more than two months.

Out of the new cases, 293 were local infections, which is the highest since 308 were reported on August 29.

One-hundred-77 of the local infections were in the Seoul metropolitan area, and the remaining 116 elsewhere, which is the first time cases outside the capital region surpassed 100 since August 27.

While the government's heightened social distancing took effect on Thursday in the capital area and parts of Gangwon Province, containment efforts are expected to face challenges with the latest signs of a new wave in the epidemic.