Gatherings of five or more people will be banned in the greater Seoul area over the Christmas and New Year holidays in a new measure to curb the spread of COVID-19 in South Korea, local officials said Monday.

The new order will take effect on Wednesday and last through January 3.

South Korea reported 24 more deaths due to COVID-19 on Monday, a new daily high, raising the death toll to 698, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency. 

The country registered 926 new COVID-19 cases, including 892 that were locally transmitted, pushing the total caseload to 50,591. It has reported over 1,000 new daily cases for five consecutive days over the past week.