Kwon Deok-cheol, First Deputy Head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (Minister of Health and Welfare), is speaking at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting for COVID-19 response held on the morning of the 29th at the Government Sejong Complex in Sejong City. [Photo by Yonhap News]
[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] As COVID-19 confirmed cases, critically ill patients, and deaths surge sharply following the 'gradual recovery to daily life (With COVID-19),' the government will announce special quarantine measures on the afternoon of the 29th.
Kwon Deok-cheol, 1st Deputy Head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (Minister of Health and Welfare), stated, "Today (29th), a special quarantine inspection meeting will be held presided over by the President, and quarantine measures regarding the current situation will be announced." The government plans to hold the special quarantine inspection meeting at 2 p.m. under the President's chairmanship and then announce special quarantine measures through a briefing at 5 p.m. To this end, the Recovery Support Committee conducted a risk assessment of the gradual recovery over the past four weeks the day before.
Regarding the current situation after With COVID-19, Deputy Head Kwon warned, "Restaurants, cafes, and shops have regained vitality with a noticeably increased number of customers, and various indicators such as employment figures and consumer sentiment have improved," but "the number of confirmed cases has soared to around 4,000, and critically ill patients are rapidly increasing, with more than 1,000 patients waiting for hospital bed assignments."
To overcome this crisis, Deputy Head Kwon urged compliance with quarantine rules and emphasized, "Additional vaccinations are essential." He said, "Just as active participation in the first and second doses laid a great foundation for the path of gradual recovery to daily life, essential additional vaccinations will be the most important means to continue on this path," urging active additional vaccinations.
He also announced measures against the new variant, the 'Omicron variant.' Deputy Head Kwon stated, "To proactively respond to the emergence of the Omicron variant following the Delta variant virus, starting from 0:00 on the 28th, entry bans have been imposed on short-term foreign visitors from eight African countries including the Republic of South Africa, and domestic residents and long-term foreign visitors will undergo 10 days of facility quarantine."
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