SEOUL — South Korea will maintain Level 1 social distancing regulations under a revised five-tier scheme as the average daily number of new cases remains below 100 this week, Yonhap quoted the health authority as saying on Friday.

The new five-tier scheme, which takes effect Saturday, breaks the current three levels into five — 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5 and 3 — based on the average number of daily infections per week, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

The new system divides the nation into seven zones to allow provincial governments to decide the level of their own social distancing in accordance with the new infections in the regions.

The new system groups facilities into "priority" and "regular" sites in terms of the application of antivirus rules, while mask wearing and other key rules that were previously mandatory only at "high-risk" facilities will now apply to all facilities.

Starting Nov. 13, those who don't wear masks in public spaces and transportation will be subject to fines of up to 100,000 won ($88.3), and business owners who violate the public health regulations will be slapped with a maximum fine of 3 million won.

The KDCA said the revised rule is aimed at effectively containing COVID-19, also alleviating its impact on daily lives and business activities.

The health authority said it would maintain Level 1 social distancing guidelines under a new five-tier scheme, as the average number of new cases across the nation stood at 92.1 over the past week.

Meanwhile, South Korea's new coronavirus infections rose by triple digits for a third straight day Friday, Yonhap News Agency reported. South Korea added 145 more COVID-19 cases, including 117 local infections, raising the total caseload to 27,195, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). — SPA