Easing of Social Distancing for Chuseok... Gatherings of Up to 8 People Allowed at Home in the Seoul Metropolitan Area

On the 17th, one day before the Chuseok holiday, citizens are moving at the Express Bus Terminal in Seocho-gu, Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] As the Chuseok holiday, a traditional Korean festival, begins, people are traveling to their hometowns. However, with the fourth wave of COVID-19 still fierce, health authorities are maintaining high-level social distancing measures, with Level 4 in the metropolitan area and Level 3 in non-metropolitan areas.

However, considering the holiday, some easing measures are specially implemented during the Chuseok holiday period. In Level 4 areas, where gatherings are currently limited to a maximum of 6 people including those fully vaccinated against COVID-19, family gatherings of up to 8 people are allowed at home, and visits with contact at nursing hospitals and facilities are also permitted.

We have summarized what kinds of gatherings are allowed or not allowed during the Chuseok holiday period by case.

Current Social Distancing Levels by Region (Image Source: Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency)

- During the Chuseok holiday, a family of 8 wants to have dinner at a restaurant in Seoul. Is this possible?

▲ It is not possible. From the 17th to the 23rd, designated as the Chuseok holiday period by the government, family gatherings of up to 8 people are allowed even in Level 4 areas. However, this measure applies only to family gatherings at home. In Level 4 areas, it is a violation of quarantine rules for 7 or more family members to move together outside the home and use multi-use facilities.

Also, even for gatherings at home, there must be at least 4 fully vaccinated persons. If 5 people have only received the first dose and 3 are fully vaccinated, this also violates quarantine rules.

- No family member has passed 14 days since completing vaccination by the Chuseok holiday. How many people can gather for a family dinner in a Level 4 area during the holiday?

▲ In principle, 2 people, but during the Chuseok holiday period, up to 4 people can gather at home. During the Chuseok holiday, the gathering size criteria of Level 3 are applied to family gatherings in Level 4 areas. Therefore, if only unvaccinated, first-dose vaccinated, or those who have not passed 14 days since full vaccination gather, up to 4 family members can meet at home, and up to 2 family members outside the home.

- Ten friends, all fully vaccinated, want to gather in Daegu, their hometown, during the Chuseok holiday. Is this possible?

▲ The current social distancing levels basically provide incentives that exempt fully vaccinated persons from private gathering size limits. However, there is still a maximum limit.

Until the 5th, some regions such as Daegu, Gyeongnam, and Gyeongbuk allowed unlimited incentives for fully vaccinated persons. Therefore, if fewer than 4 unvaccinated or first-dose vaccinated persons were present, gatherings of more than 10 people were possible. But now, the quarantine rules have changed to allow gatherings of up to 8 people only. Therefore, during the Chuseok holiday, gatherings of non-family members are limited to 8 people in Level 3 and 6 people in Level 4, even if all are fully vaccinated.

- Eight family members want to gather at a pension in Gyeonggi Province during the Chuseok holiday. Is this possible?

▲ This violates quarantine rules. The allowance for family gatherings of 8 people in Level 4 areas during the Chuseok holiday applies only to gatherings at home. Even in lodging facilities, this is not allowed. In Level 3 areas, use is possible as long as the number of people does not exceed the lodging facility's capacity limit.

On the 13th, when in-person visits at nursing hospitals resumed according to the Chuseok special quarantine measures, a son and his mother are seen face-to-face, talking in a visiting room of a nursing hospital in Deokjin-gu, Jeonju-si, Jeollabuk-do. [Image source=Yonhap News]

- I want to visit my mother in a nursing hospital in Seoul. Can I see her in person?

▲ It is only possible with restrictions during the two weeks from the 13th to the 26th around Chuseok. Currently, in Level 4 areas, visits are generally not allowed. Even in Level 3 or lower areas, contact visits are temporarily suspended to strengthen quarantine measures.

However, during the two weeks from the 13th to the 26th around Chuseok, contact visits at nursing hospitals and facilities are allowed regardless of the social distancing level. Contact visits are only possible if both the patient/resident and the visitor are fully vaccinated; otherwise, only non-contact visits are allowed.

- How many people can gather to visit parents' graves in Gyeonggi Province during the Chuseok holiday?

▲ The exceptions to gathering size limits in Level 4 areas apply only to restaurants and cafes, and the exceptions for Chuseok gatherings apply only to gatherings at home. Therefore, normal private gathering size limits apply to grave visits. That is, up to 4 people can gather before 6 p.m., and up to 2 people after 6 p.m. for grave visits.

However, although Jeju is also a Level 4 area, it applies separate rules related to grave trimming. Considering Jeju's unique culture of valuing grave trimming so much that schools used to have 'grave trimming vacations' in the early 2000s, private gatherings for 'group grave trimming' can have up to 8 people even outside the home. However, this is only until the 20th; after the 21st, only up to 4 people can gather for grave trimming again. For 'family grave trimming (including public cemeteries),' only up to 4 people can gather, not 8.