SEOUL — South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases hit a new record high on Friday despite the most stringent social distancing rules to contain the winter wave of the virus, Yonhap reported.

South Korea reported 1,241 more COVID-19 cases, including 1,216 local infections, raising the total caseload to 54,770, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

The tally marked a hike from 985 on Thursday, according the public health agency. The hike is mainly blamed on 288 new cases at a detention center in eastern Seoul in one of the largest massive cluster infections in South Korea.

South Korea has banned gatherings of five or more people across the country in the most stringent social distancing rules meant to contain the spread of the virus.

The government also shut down ski resorts and popular venues for watching the sunrise on New Year's Day to slow the spread of the virus during the Christmas and New Year's holiday season.

South Korea has been applying Level 2.5 social distancing rules, the second highest of the five-tier system, in the greater Seoul area, home to half of its 51.6 million population, and Level 2 rules in the rest of the country. — SPA