The daily increase of COVID-19 infections remained above 50 for the second straight day as clusters continued to spread in the Seoul metropolitan area.

The Central Quarantine Countermeasures Headquarters said as of 12:00 a.m. Thursday, 56 additional people tested positive for the virus, raising the accumulated total to 14-thousand-770.

Out of the 56 new cases, 47 were community infections, while the other nine were imported.

The number of local infections is the highest since 49 reported on July 3 and is nearing the 50 to 100 bracket for authorities to bolster quarantine guidelines by raising the social distancing level to two.

As of 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, eleven people linked to a gathering in Seoul's Gwangjin district of fast food chain Lotteria's employees have tested positive, while six additional people tested positive in connection to churches in Gyeonggi Province.