South Korea confirmed Saturday another 813 cases of the new coronavirus, taking its infection total to 3,150.
The Health and Welfare Ministry said in a statement that 657 of the new cases were in Daegu, the epicenter of South Korea's COVID-19 outbreak. The total in the city, whose mass outbreak is linked to a secretive religious group, now exceeds 2,200.
There are now 77 cases in Seoul and 80 in Busan, the second-largest city, with both logging increases. The national death toll stands at 17.
Government quarantine officials at a news conference urged people to refrain from going out much as possible over the weekend.
Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry on Saturday issued a level-one travel alert, the lowest on its four-tier response system, for all of Japan, urging citizens to exercise caution.
The previous day, the Japanese Foreign Ministry issued a Level 1 risk information level, its lowest, for the whole of South Korea.