On the 1st, the temporary screening clinic installed at Gwangjin Square in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, where the COVID-19 crisis alert level was downgraded from "Severe" to "Alert," is being dismantled. Photo by Dongju Yoon doso7@
From the 1st, the mandatory isolation for COVID-19 confirmed cases will be lifted, and masks will no longer be required in most places. It marks a return to normal life 1,229 days after the first COVID-19 case was confirmed on January 20, 2020.
At midnight on this day, the government downgraded the COVID-19 crisis alert level from "Severe" to "Caution." The mandatory 7-day isolation for confirmed cases changed to a recommended 5-day isolation, and isolation requirements were removed in medical institutions and vulnerable facilities. Students are advised to refrain from attending school for 5 days and can have their absence period counted as attendance.
The recommendation for PCR testing on the third day after entry was also lifted. Screening clinics for PCR tests will continue to operate, but temporary screening clinics have closed. The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters (CDSCH), which has been operating since February 2020, was also disbanded.
Although most daily quarantine measures have disappeared, vaccination, treatments, and financial support for hospitalized patients will continue. The temporary telemedicine service, which was implemented without distinction between new and returning patients for the past three years, will now be conducted as a pilot project focusing on returning patients starting from this day.
Daily COVID-19 statistics, which were released every morning, will change to weekly statistics starting from the 5th. On this day, there were 24,604 new confirmed COVID-19 cases (cumulative 31,728,115) and 20 new deaths, bringing the total deaths to 34,804 (fatality rate 0.11%).
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
