Over 2,100 nightclubs, bars, and discos have shut down amid COVID-19 pandemic, the Associated Press reported.

Nightclubs opened in Seoul after loosening restrictions imposed on the pandemic.

"The measures imposed Saturday by Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon came after the national government urged entertainment venues around the nation to close or otherwise enforce anti-virus measures, including distancing, temperature checks, keeping customer lists and requiring employees to wear masks," AP said.

Since midnight Friday, 18 new cases have been recorded in a day, all but one of them linked to a 29-year-old man who visited three clubs in Seoul’s Itaewon district last Saturday before testing positive days later.

The mayor said that over 16 new CVODI-19 cases were recorded in Seoul in a few hours.