"Considering 'Confusion' Due to Non-Capital Region Spread and Differences in Regional Personnel Standards"
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ji-hee] The government is discussing a plan to uniformly apply the 'ban on private gatherings of five or more people' measure to metropolitan local governments outside the Seoul metropolitan area. This comes amid a recent increase in COVID-19 cases in non-metropolitan regions and concerns that differing private gathering size limits across local governments could cause confusion.
Lee Ki-il, the 1st Controller of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (Director of Health and Medical Affairs at the Ministry of Health and Welfare), said at the COVID-19 regular briefing on the 16th, "Recently, 75% of COVID-19 cases have occurred in the Seoul metropolitan area and 25% in non-metropolitan areas. While the situation in the metropolitan area remains steady, cases are gradually increasing in non-metropolitan regions." He added, "There will be a meeting this afternoon with local governments to discuss the plan to unify the 'ban on private gatherings of five or more people,' and we will listen to their opinions thoroughly."
Earlier that morning, during the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum stated, "Currently, the Seoul metropolitan area is under Level 4 social distancing, but in non-metropolitan areas, the allowed number of people for private gatherings varies by region?4, 6, or 8 people?causing potential confusion." He urged, "Local governments should discuss unifying the private gathering limit in non-metropolitan areas to up to 4 people."
Based on the information shared during today's meeting, each local government will conduct its own discussions to decide on the gathering restrictions. The limits for each local government in non-metropolitan areas are expected to be announced as early as Sunday, the 18th.
If the ban on gatherings of five or more people is implemented, non-metropolitan areas will effectively return to the pre-restructured social distancing measures. Regarding criticisms that the introduction of the new social distancing system in non-metropolitan areas two weeks ago was premature compared to the metropolitan area, Son Young-rae, head of the Social Strategy Division at the Central Accident Response Headquarters, stated, "Restrictions on private gatherings are measures regulating individual preventive behavior, and since these regulations are currently mixed, we are discussing with local governments whether unification is possible." He emphasized, "The current discussion is not about the overall social distancing system."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
