Samsung Electronics has tightened measures to prevent the spread of the new coronavirus on its campuses, including a temporary travel ban on its employees, ahead of a possible upgrade in social distancing rules by the government, the tech giant said Wednesday.

A task force on pandemic response within its semiconductor division on Tuesday sent a notice to the executives and employees about enhanced rules banning nonessential trips and visits to public facilities such as restaurants and cafes outside of its workplaces.

Marts and bakeries at the chipmaking unit’s headquarters in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province, have suspended operation. Eating is banned at places other than designated cafeterias.

Any face-to-face business meetings on the campus are prohibited as well, while visits to other offices or lines are severely restricted.

The tightened rules come amid growing concerns about the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the country. The government is mulling a near lockdown, or Level 3 social distancing restrictions on the country’s five-tier scale, as the country’s daily virus tally rose to a record 1,078 on Wednesday.

“Recent cases tell that people contracted the virus while eating at restaurants and meeting with family members,” a company official said. “The company will apply the heightened rules until the end of the year.”

By Song Su-hyun (song@heraldcorp.com)