Social distancing level raised to 1.5 in greater Seoul

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun speaks during a meeting on the COVID-19 response at the government complex in Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap

By Bahk Eun-ji

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said Tuesday that the government will raise the current Level 1 social distancing guidelines to Level 1.5 in the greater Seoul area, effective Thursday, as the COVID-19 situation here has been showing signs of deteriorating.

“The health authorities' efforts to contain the coronavirus are facing a crisis. In particular, the situation in the Seoul metropolitan area, where more than half of the country's people are concentrated, is very serious,” the prime minister said in a regular COVID-19 response meeting.

The government also considered raising the level in Gangwon Province, but decided to allow the local government to decide on this according to infection rates in the region.

Under Level 1.5 guidelines, nonessential gatherings and the operation of multiuse facilities are restricted ― such as restaurants and bars being subject to stricter distancing rules, and schools limiting their attendance cap to two-thirds of the total student body.

At Level 1, people are only required to follow basic guidelines, such as wearing masks, while gatherings of over 500 people are not recommended. Currently, the government operates a five-tier system to combat the coronavirus.

“Daily confirmed cases, which hovered around 100 over the past few weeks, have stayed above 200 since last weekend. Other indicators such as the rate of infection of elderly patients and the index for transmission reproduction, which is currently at 1.12, also continue to worsen,” Chung said.

He continued: “Once the social distancing level is raised even by one notch, citizens will experience great inconvenience in their daily lives and the burden on small business owners will again be increased, but if we do not make a decision now, we all know that we will face a much bigger crisis.”

The decision came as the country's daily new COVID-19 cases surpassed 200 for the fourth day in a row, with continuous community transmission spreading throughout the country. Since Nov. 8, the country has reported more than 100 new infections daily.

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), there were 230 coronavirus infections for Monday, including 202 local cases, raising the total caseload to 28,998.

Among the locally transmitted cases, 87 were reported in Seoul, 38 in Gyeonggi Province and 12 in Incheon, west of the capital. In the greater Seoul area, including Incheon and Gyeonggi Province, new virus cases have surpassed 100 for five consecutive days.

Thirteen cases were reported in Gangwon Province, 16 were detected in South Jeolla Province, and 18 in Gwangju. Nine were detected in South Chungcheong, two in Daegu, and one in Daejeon, while South and North Gyeongsang provinces reported three new cases each. No additional deaths were reported, keeping the total at 494, with a fatality rate of 1.7 percent.