South Korea's daily new cases have now soared by 297 to a record high since early March, with the infection traced to churches in the capital city of Seoul continuing to swell.

The country added 297 more COVID-19 cases, including 283 local infections, raising the total caseload to 16,058, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).

Health authorities say the current situation is worrisome as most of the cases have been locally transmitted. Of the newly identified local infections, 150 cases were reported from the capital city of Seoul, home to half of the country's 50 million population.

Two Army soldiers in the northern county of Gapyeong tested positive for the new coronavirus in cases traced to the massive infection cluster at a Seoul church, the defense ministry said Wednesday.

Infections tied to the church among military members have grown to seven.

"All the service personnel of the base underwent virus tests, and except for the five, all the others tested negative," a defense ministry official said before.

So far, the military reported 90 coronavirus patients. Currently, 737 service members are in isolation in accordance with the health authorities' guidelines, and the military has quarantined an additional 3,131 people.

The defense ministry has ordered the restriction of all service members from vacationing and off-installation trips from Wednesday until the end of this month.

The daily new cases reported by KCDC have been in three-digits over the past weeks, with a total of 1,300 cases being newly identified. The country has implemented enhanced social distancing guidelines as of midnight to stem further spread of the virus.

In a nationally televised announcement on Tuesday, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said strengthening social distancing restrictions for the Seoul metropolitan area, which is home to half of the country's 51 million people, was inevitable because a failure to slow transmissions there could result in a major outbreak nationwide.

Outdoor gatherings of more than 100 people are strictly restricted. If they are held indoors, the ceiling is 50 people. Sports events will be allowed without spectators.

With religious facilities emerging as the hotbed of the pandemic, churches in the greater Seoul area will not be allowed to have in-person worship services.

South Korea's three major telecom operators will hand over location data of mobile users who attended a large anti-government rally last weekend to health authorities, as part of the country's strategy to contain the resurgence of COVID-19, Yonhap news agency reported on Wednesday.

The Saturday protests drew thousands of demonstrations together, which raised concerns over cluster infection. The mobile carriers – SK Telecom Co., KT Corp. and LG Uplus Corp. – will submit data of mobile users who accessed base stations around Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul on Saturday for over 30 minutes, following a request from health authorities Tuesday.

Bases on the country's infectious disease control and prevention law, the health authorities are allowed to request information to track the movement of potentially infected individuals.

The telecom operators have previously handed over data of more than 10,000 users in May.

(With input from agencies)