The health ministry believes that it is not yet time to activate emergency measures and suspend the living with COVID-19 system.

Senior ministry official Son Young-rae said at a briefing Tuesday that despite the recent uptick in infections and hospital admissions, the healthcare system is not strained, assessing that the situation is not as serious as other regions such as Europe.

Son added that unlike other countries that have recently seen an explosive spread of infections, South Korea has mostly seen an increase in cases and severe infections among the elderly aged 60 and older.

He went on to explain that recent infections remain well below the government's daily case threshold for implementing emergency measures of five- to seven-thousand.

The official also assured that although the hospital bed occupancy rate is rising in the capital region, efforts are being made to secure more beds and ensure prompt trans-regional transport when necessary.

Daily COVID-19 cases have remained over two-thousand for the last seven days, as the number of critically ill patients neared 500 with 495 reported on Tuesday.