SEOUL - South Korea decided Friday to further ease social-distancing rules against the COVID-19 for two weeks as the tightened quarantine measures roiled the businesses of small merchants.

The country's Ministry of Health and Welfare said the moderated social-distancing guideline will be kept in place from March 21 to April 3, forecasting that the pandemic in the country could peak this week or as late as next week.

The ministry said the spread of the highly contagious Omicron variant reduced the efficiency of the social-distancing scheme, noting that the partial adjustment of the anti-virus measures was aimed at helping the businesses of small merchants and mitigating the inconveniences of people.

Under the new guideline, the maximum number of people allowed for private gatherings will be raised from six to eight nationwide, but the business hour curfew will be left unchanged.

Restaurants, cafes, indoor sports facilities and karaoke as well as nighttime entertainment facilities, such as bars and nightclubs, will be permitted to open until 11:00 p.m. local time.

Regardless of vaccination, 299 people will be allowed to gather for events, such as sports events, festivals and concerts.

The maximum number of people allowed to join religious services will be 70 percent of the total seating capacity.

In the latest tally, the country reported 407,017 new COVID-19 cases for the past 24 hours, lifting the total number of infections to 8,657,609. It marked the second-highest daily caseload here.