South Korean health authorities said on Tuesday that the reproduction rate for COVID-19 nationwide stood at one-point-12 for the past week, raising concerns of further spread of the virus.

Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol disclosed the weekly figure compiled through last Saturday during a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters. 

The rate refers to the number of infections caused by a single patient and a figure over one means the virus is spreading. It is the second week in a row the number remained higher than one nationwide, following one-point-07 a week earlier.  

With the average number of daily new COVID-19 cases in the country also surpassing 600 for the past week, President Moon Jae-in said Monday that the current situation is very precarious and could lead to another explosive surge if vigilance is not maintained.

Presiding over a special quarantine inspection meeting, Moon said that if cases continue to increase, the social distancing level will inevitably have to be raised, even at the risk of further burdening the economy and people’s livelihoods.

Meanwhile, amid supply challenges seen across the globe, COVID-19 vaccines developed by U.S. pharmaceutical company Novavax will begin manufacturing its products under consignment in South Korea this month. 

The Health Ministry said on Monday it projects vaccines to be produced by Novavax’s domestic partner SK Bioscience will be rolled out starting as early as June, with stable supplies to follow thereafter to the South Korean public. 

South Korea has signed a deal to purchase enough Novavax vaccines for 20 million people - with about half of that expected to be produced domestically by the third quarter. 

South Korea has secured sufficient COVID-19 vaccines to inoculate 79 million people, with around three-point-37 million doses of that having arrived in the nation so far, including those developed by AstraZeneca and Pfizer.