SEOUL (REUTERS) - South Korea reported on Wednesday (Nov 18) 313 new daily Covid-19 cases, the highest since August, as cluster infections continued to emerge from offices, medical facilities and small gatherings, prompting authorities to tighten social distancing rules.

The daily tally has been above 200 for a fifth consecutive day and surpassed 300 for the first time since late August, when a large outbreak erupted from a church whose members attended a political rally, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

The government decided on Tuesday to impose stricter social distancing measures for the greater Seoul area a month after easing them, warning of an even bigger crisis if its current anti-Covid-19 efforts fail to blunt a spike in new cases.

Of the new cases, 245 were locally transmitted and 68 were imported. Nearly 74 per cent of the domestic infections came from the greater Seoul area, home to around half of the country's 52 million population.

The latest numbers brought the country's total infections to 29,311, with 496 deaths.