Korea's new Covid-19 cases stayed in the 700s for the second day Thursday as the Seoul metro region faced a resurge of infections, forcing authorities to push back eased virus restrictions.

The country reported 762 more new virus cases, including 712 local infections, raising the total caseload to 157,723, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The latest figure was a slight decrease of 32 from the previous day.

Three more people died of coronavirus, raising the death toll to 2,021. The fatality rate was 1.28 percent.

The number of daily confirmed cases had long remained stagnant, hovering between 300 and 600 depending on the number of tests during weekends. However, the number of patients has accelerated since last week as cluster infections continued to spread around the capital city and its vicinity.

Authorities have confirmed that more than 200 people in the metropolitan area have tested positive for the Delta variant virus, which has higher infectivity, raising concerns that the epidemic may increase in the future. The resurgence of virus cases has led authorities to put off easing social distancing rules in the greater Seoul areas for a week until next Wednesday.

Accordingly, in the metropolitan area, the ban on private gatherings of five or more people and the limit of business hours for multi-use facilities, such as restaurants and cafes, until 10 pm, remains.

Commenting on the sudden suspension, Ministry of Health and Welfare Spokesperson Son Young-rae said, "After meeting with the heads of local governments in Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province and collecting their opinions, we determined that the situation in the Seoul metro region was serious, urgently requesting a one-week suspension of the new rules’ implementation."

He added that the headquarters would decide whether to apply the eased distancing measure next week.

Son stressed that July would be a watershed of whether or not the country sees an additional outbreak of the virus as the government predicts that the effect of the Covid-19 vaccination will start to appear from August.

"From July, the government will expand vaccination to a large number of people, including those in their 50s, high school seniors, and teachers," Son said. "Therefore, we expect that the effect of vaccination will fully appear around August."

According to quarantine officials, about 8 million people in their 50s will receive the first dose for two weeks from the fourth week of July, and those in their 40s or younger will receive the first dose from August to September.

The government started implementing no-mask rules outdoors, such as hiking trails or parks, for people who received the first jab of the vaccine as part of its inoculation incentive from Thursday.

"We don't think allowing people to take their face masks off outdoors will be a big risk from the quarantine point of view. However, some experts have pointed out that it can reduce the tension for quarantine," Son said. "Therefore, we are thinking about whether it is necessary to strengthen communication on the issue."

The government has vaccinated 15,336,361 people – 10,394,779 with the AstraZeneca vaccine, 3,777,432 with Pfizer's vaccine, 1,128,444 with Janssen's vaccine, 35,706 with Moderna's vaccine – with the first shot of the vaccine up 14,233 from the previous day.

The figure accounts for 29.9 percent of the country's population.