Announcement of Social Distancing Adjustment Plan on the 29th for the 31st
"Decision after analyzing current trends for about two days"
On the 29th, citizens are waiting to be tested at the Overseas Departure Screening Clinic for COVID-19 at the National Medical Center in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ji-hee] The government will announce the adjustment plan for social distancing stages, which will be applied from the 1st of next month, on the 31st. Although the time to respond to changes in quarantine measures is tight, the recent increase in confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) has led to a stance of examining the situation more closely.
Son Young-rae, head of the Social Strategy Division at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters (CDSCH) of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said, "Originally, when announcing social distancing, there was usually about a two-day buffer to allow local governments to adjust administrative orders according to the reorganization of the distancing system and for those engaged in various livelihoods affected by these changes to respond." He added, "However, this week, the pattern of patient occurrence has shown a difficult-to-interpret increasing trend, so a judgment is necessary." This means they will observe and decide whether the current trend is just a temporary increase or if the declining trend has reversed back to an increase.
He continued, "If we do not properly assess that this is an early-stage situation, decisions on adjusting social distancing stages and judgments on subsequent epidemic trends may be misaligned, so we will analyze the current epidemic trend further during these two days before making a decision."
Authorities are monitoring the current situation and reviewing various measures ahead of the announcement of the social distancing adjustment plan. Among these is a proposal to ease the business restriction from 9 PM to 10 PM. Regarding this, it was reported that "during the process of gathering opinions from local governments, central ministries, and field workers, various opinions including easing the restriction to 10 PM have emerged." They added, "Basically, we are having close discussions on how to balance quarantine and social acceptability, and what additional measures can be taken to prevent an increase in the number of patients despite easing restrictions."
Yoon Tae-ho, head of the CDSCH Quarantine General Division, also diagnosed, "Last week, the number of confirmed domestic cases remained at the 300s level, but this week it has increased to the 400-500 range." He noted, "Infections through personal contact are also increasing, and cluster infections are occurring in places such as the IM Mission, churches, workplaces, sports facilities, and saunas."
He also expressed the practical difficulties in establishing quarantine guidelines. Yoon said, "The government is continuously preparing detailed quarantine rules, but it is difficult to regulate the complex and diverse aspects of our society without gaps," urging once again for compliance with quarantine rules.
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