South Korea will tighten social distancing measures for Seoul and Gyeonggi Province following a huge surge in COVID-19 cases.

Chairing an emergency meeting Saturday, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said the spread of the virus in the capital area is very serious.

He said failure to properly handle this crucial moment could lead to another wave of the outbreak as seen in many other countries.

He said the most pressing task is to swiftly stop transmissions within the metropolitan area.

Social distancing regulations will be raised a notch to level two, meaning operation of facilities at high risk of cluster infections will be suspended while professional sports will return to spectator-less games.

Level Two will take effect from Sunday for two weeks. 

Korea reported over 100 new virus cases for a second-straight day on Saturday.