Announcing the social distancing adjustment plan today… ‘Gathering for 10 people, open until midnight’▶ Click here for a larger view
While the Omicron pandemic has recently shown a moderate decline, the government is announcing a ‘social distancing’ adjustment plan to be applied from next week on the morning of the 1st.
According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (Critical Headquarters), the measure will be applied for two weeks from the 4th.
The government will confirm the plan to adjust the distance at the main headquarters meeting this morning and announce it through a briefing at 11:30 am.
Through three previous adjustments, the government extended the business hours of multiple facilities from 9:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. and back to 11:00 p.m. by one hour, and increased the limit for private gatherings to eight people.
The government’s decision to adopt a ‘slight adjustment’ in this adjustment seems to be a measure taking into account the fact that there are still risk factors to amplify the epidemic.
Currently, ‘Stealth Omicron’ (BA.2), which has strong transmission power, has become the dominant species in Korea, and the number of critically ill patients with COVID-19 is showing an increasing trend, breaking the highest number every day.
However, as the Omicron epidemic has passed the peak period and there is a strong demand for the lifting of the business hours restrictions centered on the self-employed and small business owners, there is a possibility that the distancing will be completely lifted in the next adjustment.
The government is also expected to emphasize the message that this could be ‘the last distance’ while announcing a plan to adjust the distance.
Demand for overseas travel soars due to exemption from self-quarantine for overseas entrants▶ Click here for a larger view
Meanwhile, as of today, the quarantine authorities have lifted all designations of ‘Countries Excluded from Quarantine Exemption’.
Accordingly, overseas arrivals are not subject to self-quarantine if they have completed their vaccinations, regardless of which country they came from.
Those who have completed the vaccination are those who have passed 14 days and less than 180 days have passed since the second dose (one dose for Janssen) or those who received the third dose.
The quarantine authorities have designated countries exempted from quarantine every month by monitoring the risk of mutations in each country to prevent the influx of new mutant viruses.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention originally planned to designate three countries, Vietnam, Myanmar and Ukraine, as countries exempt from quarantine for this month, but the plan was withdrawn.
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