President Moon to Urgently Chair COVID-19 Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters Meeting at 3 PM... "Full-Scale Response" (Update)

President Moon Jae-in [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Son Sun-hee] President Moon Jae-in will urgently preside over a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters (CDSCH) for COVID-19 from 3 p.m. on the 13th, the Blue House announced.

Blue House spokesperson Kang Min-seok explained the purpose through a text notice on the same day, stating, "This is to strengthen the government's determination and resolve across all ministries to fully respond to COVID-19 and to review the government's and local governments' measures for the emergency situation."

According to Spokesperson Kang, the CDSCH meeting will be attended by Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, ministers from 10 other ministries, and the Director of the Office for Government Policy Coordination. Provincial governors will join via video conference.

As of midnight on the same day, the daily new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country reached 1,030, marking the highest number ever recorded. This is the first time daily confirmed cases have exceeded 1,000.

Accordingly, the government is expected to discuss quarantine measures, including the possibility of raising social distancing to Level 3.