Seoul, Dec 9, 2020, SPA -- South Korea's new virus cases neared 700 today, on Wednesday on soaring community infections in the greater Seoul area despite toughened social distancing measures, Yonhap reported. The country reported 686 new virus cases, including 662 domestically transmitted ones, raising the total caseload to 39,432, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Of the 686 new virus cases, 524 were reported in the greater Seoul area, covering Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, just west of Seoul. The figure showed a sharp rise from 594 the previous day and 580 on Monday, hitting the second-highest mark since January when the first case was reported. The number of confirmed cases hit a record high of 909 on Feb. 29. Four additional coronavirus deaths were reported, raising the death toll to 556. The country is expected to report more than 600 additional cases on Thursday as health authorities confirmed 481 new cases Wednesday as of 6:00 p.m., with 374 cases from the greater Seoul area. The country announces its official tally of the previous day at 9:30 a.m. The social distancing Level 2.5, the second-highest level under the five-tier scheme, went into effect Tuesday in the greater Seoul area, covering Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, west of Seoul. In other areas, the third-highest level of 2 was applied. Under the boosted guidelines to be effective till Dec. 28, a slew of measures have been taken to prevent people from gathering and traveling across the country. Health officials said skyrocketing community infections were the main cause of the surge in new virus cases in the greater Seoul area. The ratio of untraceable cases to the total confirmed cases reported from Nov. 26 to Wednesday stood at 19 percent, down from 20.7 percent the previous day. They have also warned of the wider pandemic, forecasting that the daily infections may approach 1,000 next week unless the current spread of the new virus is brought under control. The officials have been worried about a possible shortage of hospital beds to treat COVID-19 patients. --SPA 20:27 LOCAL TIME 17:27 GMT 0016 www.spa.gov.sa/w1465119