South Korea's Green Cross Corp (006280.KS) has received regulatory approval for phase II human clinical trials of its experimental coronavirus plasma treatment drug, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said on Thursday.

The trials will test the safety and efficacy of the drug in 60 severe patients with underlying conditions like pneumonia, Green Cross said.

Green Cross was allowed to skip phase I trials. Its therapy is the country's first to enter phase II for COVID-19 plasma treatment.

South Korea has reported its highest daily rise in coronavirus cases since early March as clusters of cases from churches around the capital Seoul have prompted new restrictions amid concerns of a nationwide wave of infections.

The 297 new infections reported on Wednesday mark the sixth straight day of triple-digit increase in a country that has managed to blunt several previous outbreaks.

The national tally rose to 16,058 infections with 306 deaths, according to data from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"We're in a desperately dangerous crisis where infections are spreading in the Seoul metropolitan area and threatening to lead to a massive nationwide transmission," Vice Minister of Health Kim Gang-lip told a briefing.

"The government cannot contain the current spread only with tracing and isolation ... please stay home unless you need to go out."

Officials have also enforced stronger physical distancing restrictions for Seoul, Incheon and nearby Gyeonggi province that prohibit gatherings of more than 50 people indoors and 100 people outdoors.

New outbreak
South Korea reported 288 new cases of the virus on Thursday, the majority of which were in Seoul and the surrounding Gyeonggi province. The outbreak has been linked to the Sarang-jeil Church, which has reported hundreds of positive cases among its members, some 400 of whom have yet to be traced by the authorities.

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