Authorities in South Korea say the next ten days or so will be crucial in determining whether recent clusters of COVID-19 in the Seoul metropolitan area will further spread nationwide.

On Wednesday, Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip said authorities are seriously monitoring the sporadic outbreaks with no known origin centered in Seoul and its surrounding regions.

Kim urged residents in the metropolitan area to strictly follow quarantine guidelines on the belief that they could be asymptomatic.

As for reinstating social distancing, the vice minister said the current situation is still manageable as it falls within the country's medical capacity.

The daily increase in infections as of 12:00 a.m. Wednesday was 49, 48 of which were reported in the Seoul metro area.