South Korea on Sunday announced it would raise social distancing regulations for the greater Seoul area to Level 2.5, the second highest in the country's five-tier COVID-19 alert system, as part of its efforts to stem a resurgence in COVID-19 cases. 

The measure will be applied to the nation's capital area, which covers Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi province, for the next three weeks.

The country reported 631 more cases of COVID-19 as of midnight Saturday compared to 24 hours earlier, raising the total number of infections to 37,546. Of the new cases, 253 were Seoul residents and 176 were people residing in Gyeonggi province.

Five more deaths were confirmed, leaving the death toll at 545. The total fatality rate is 1.45 percent.