Jun Ji-hye, a reporter at the finance desk of The Korea Times, focuses primarily on economic policy and government agencies, mainly covering the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Budget and Planning, the National Tax Service and the Korea Customs Service. She previously covered financial authorities, including the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service, and earlier worked on the political, city and business desks, reporting on a wide range of issues.
Korea to maintain strong social distancing measures for another 2 weeks
A notice announcing a shop is closed because of the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic is posted in Myeong-dong, central Seoul, Sunday. The government decided to maintain the social distancing at the current Level 2.5 for the Seoul metropolitan area despite deepening difficulties facing small business owners, amid the continued spread of the coronavirus. / Yonhap
By Jun Ji-hye
Pfizer vaccine doses for 60,000 people to arrive in February
By Jun Ji-hye
The government decided to extend the current Level 2.5 social distancing measures ― the second-highest in its five-tier system ― for the Seoul metropolitan area, and Level 2 for other parts of the country by two weeks until after the Lunar New Year holiday that falls on Feb. 11 to 14, according to Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, Sunday.
Antivirus measures including the rule banning gatherings of five or more people will also be maintained.
The prime minister said the government made the decision, despite deepening difficulties facing small business owners forced to suspend their business or reduce operations, because recent infections traced to religious facilities and hospitals, among others, have continued to threaten the safety of the people.
“We should ensure that the COVID-19 situation is stabilized until after the Lunar New Year holiday, so we can implement our COVID-19 vaccination plan in February and begin new school semesters in March without a hitch. This will eventually bring life back to normal,” Chung said during a government meeting on COVID-19 response. “The government feels very sorry for small business owners, but everyone should cooperate with the government measures to overcome the public health crisis.”
The prime minister also said the country will acquire Pfizer vaccine doses for 60,000 people in mid-February. In addition, Korea is expected to receive AstraZeneca vaccine doses for up to 2.19 million people in the first half of this year.
According to the The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), the country added 355 more COVID-19 cases, including 325 local infections, for Saturday, raising the total accumulated number of cases to 78,205.
Among the 355 new cases, 224 were from the Seoul metropolitan area that includes Incheon and Gyeonggi Province.
The latest infection count marked a decrease from 458 identified Friday and fell back to below 400 for the first time in five days. But the authorities are staying vigilant as the decline may have been due largely to fewer tests over the weekend.
Adding to concerns is a continuous increase in the number of virus patients traced to missionary schools and a new COVID-19 outbreak of at least 27 virus patients including medical staff at Hanyang University Seoul Hospital.
Six more patients died from COVID-19, raising the death toll to 1,420.
The government was originally considering lowering the social distancing level by one notch as the third wave of infections, which began in mid-November here, showed a decreasing tread earlier this month, with the daily new cases remaining in the 300s and 400s, after peaking at 1,240 on Dec. 24.
But it had no choice but to reexamine the plan following recent outbreaks from six unauthorized education facilities run by a local Christian missionary group, called the International Mission (IM) ― at least 368 patients have been traced to IM schools as of Saturday.
The KDCA said that the reproduction rate of COVID-19, which measures the number of people that the average patient infects, has recently risen above 1.
A reproduction rate above 1 is perceived as dangerous as it means the virus is spreading, while a rate below 1 means the outbreak is shrinking, according to health authorities.
Health experts have also raised the need to maintain the current social distancing level, raising the likelihood that there are people unaware of their infected status and yet to be diagnosed.
“Infection clusters have continued to be reported from churches, schools, factories and private education facilities, which means there are still many people infected with the virus in local communities,” said Chun Eun-mi, a pulmonologist at Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital.