Extension of High-Intensity Social Distancing Until the 19th: "Situation Still Severe" (Update)

Park Neung-hoo, 1st Deputy Head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] The government announced on the 4th that it will extend the "enhanced social distancing" measures, which were initially set to be implemented until the 5th, for an additional two weeks until the 19th. This decision was made based on the assessment that the situation remains severe, with around 100 new daily confirmed cases of COVID-19 domestically and the global cumulative confirmed cases surpassing one million.

The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters for COVID-19 confirmed the two-week extension of the high-intensity social distancing measures during a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun that morning. Accordingly, operational restrictions on religious facilities, indoor sports facilities, entertainment venues, and additional industries designated by local governments (such as PC rooms, karaoke rooms, and academies) will be extended until the 19th. Even if operation is unavoidable, compliance with quarantine guidelines set by health authorities, such as maintaining a distance of 1 to 2 meters and wearing masks, must be followed.

In addition, to minimize community infections, a group quarantine system will be established targeting nursing hospitals, psychiatric hospitals, and churches to detect patients early and prevent the spread of infection. Quarantine officers will be appointed within these communities to regularly check for symptomatic individuals within the facilities and will be obligated to report any confirmed cases to the health authorities. Upon receiving a report, the authorities will conduct early diagnostic testing.

To manage the increasing number of imported cases, measures to enhance the effectiveness of self-quarantine will be implemented, including mandatory use of a safety protection application and a resident reporting system. Real-time monitoring of quarantine violators will also be conducted through an integrated Geographic Information System (GIS) dashboard.

The government aims to reduce the average daily number of new confirmed cases to around 50 and lower the proportion of cases with unknown infection routes to below 5% through the extension of high-intensity social distancing measures. Park Neung-hoo, the first deputy head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (Minister of Health and Welfare), stated at the regular briefing that morning, "Please understand that we have no choice but to continue enhanced social distancing for a certain period, and although it is difficult, we ask everyone to continue participating in social distancing practices for the sake of all of us."

Meanwhile, as of midnight that day, the number of new domestic cases increased by 94 compared to the previous day, bringing the total cumulative confirmed cases in the country to 10,156. Among the confirmed cases, 6,325 patients have been released from isolation after recovery, an increase of 304 from the previous day. The number of deaths rose by 3 to a total of 177.