South Korea has decided to raise social distancing rules for areas outside the capital region to Level One-point-Five from next month. 

The government, however, decided to keep social distancing guidelines at the current Level Two for the greater Seoul area while enforcing additional quarantine measures for virus-prone facilities.

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun unveiled the decision on Sunday afternoon after a government meeting on COVID-19 responses amid the third wave of the epidemic.

The revisions will be enforced from Tuesday for 14 days for areas outside the capital region and for a week for the greater Seoul area.

Under tougher quarantine measures, saunas and amenity facilities at apartment complexes and indoor sports facilities for aerobics and kickboxing in the greater metro area will be banned.

The government will consider raising social distancing to Level Two for Busan, western parts of Gangwon Province, South Gyeongsang, South Chungcheong and North Jeolla Provinces, which are witnessing spikes in the number of infections.