South Korea reported a new daily record of one-thousand-316 COVID-19 cases on Friday, marking the highest tally since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country. 

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency(KDCA) said on Friday that the new cases compiled throughout the previous day raised the country's cumulative caseload to 165-thousand-344.

Of the new cases, one-thousand-236 are local transmissions and 80 are from overseas.

The nation reported fresh record highs for the second straight day, with the daily total surpassing 12-hundred for the third consecutive day for the first time.

The spike prompted the government to impose the highest Level Four social distancing measures in the capital region for two weeks from Monday. 

By region, the greater metro area reported 963 cases, accounting for 78 percent of local infections. The figure exceeded 900 for the third straight day. 

Two more deaths have been reported, raising the total to two-thousand-36. The COVID-19 fatality rate for the nation stands at one-point-23 percent.  

The number of critically ill patients dropped by five to 148.