Crackdowns on undocumented foreign workers postponed

Few people visit a makeshift clinic for COVID-19 tests at regional healthcare center in Songpa-gu, Seoul, Friday, as the country reported yet another single-digit increase in the number of coronavirus infections with just nine new cases. /Yonhap

By Bahk Eun-ji

Crackdowns against undocumented foreign migrant workers will be postponed in order to better protect vulnerable people amid a fall in the number of new COVID-19 infections, the country's top infectious disease official said Friday.

“In order to stably manage the spread of COVID-19 and to prevent the possibility of massive infection clusters, it is important to take care of people in any blind spot. The highly contagious virus can be spread again if these people fail to visit clinics due to their status,” said Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip during a regular press briefing at the Government Complex in Sejong.

The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters said it will conduct virus testing for all people in the vulnerable social group including the homeless and foreign workers for better containment. To encourage their participation, the health authorities will not collect their personal data during testing.

This is part of the government's efforts to carry out thorough quarantine measures for areas with a large population of undocumented immigrants and other socially disadvantaged people to prevent the spread of community infections in advance. Some 380,000 undocumented immigrants are estimated to be living in the country.

According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), nine new infections were detected Thursday, bringing the nation's total to 10,774. The death toll rose by one to 248.

Korea has recorded daily new infections in single digits for three consecutive days. Of the nine new cases, one was a domestic infection, while eight were imported.

A total of 9,072 people have been released after recovery, the KCDC said. Daegu, once the nation's epicenter, reported no new cases for a second day in a row.

The government is set to relax more restrictions early next week with the slowing number of new infections. The country eased some restrictions on social distancing guidelines in mid-April. Despite the positive signs, the government is still calling for people to comply with social distancing measures during a six-day holiday that began Thursday.

"The government will do its best to manage the quarantine situation so it can start implementing social distancing in daily lives on May 6," Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said at a meeting to discuss the government's continued response to COVID-19.

A final and detailed decision on the relaxed measures will be made Sunday based on the number of new local and imported infections. Chung said the government will discuss ways to open public institutions such as museums and art galleries starting next week, while he urged the health authorities and citizens not to loosen their grip on containment efforts, considering the fast-spreading nature of the virus for which there currently is no vaccine.