'Adding fuel to fire': Experts denounce easing of social distancing measures

A monitor at the disaster control center in southeastern Seoul's Songpa District Office shows an all-time high of 109,831 new COVID-19 infection cases announced Thursday. Yonhap

Daily new infections cases hit fresh high of 109,831

By Lee Hyo-jin

Medical experts have slammed the government for continuing to downplay the threat of the Omicron variant, including its latest decision to ease social distancing measures amid snowballing numbers of daily new infections, which reached another record high of 109,831 for Thursday, exceeding the 100,000 mark for the first time, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).

The daily tally has more than doubled in a just week from 53,920 reported last Thursday.

Despite the record-breaking infections, however, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced Friday that it will partially ease social distancing measures from Saturday, allowing multiuse facilities such as eateries and cafes to receive sit-in customers until 10 p.m., pushed back by one hour from the current 9 p.m.

The six-person limit on private gatherings will remain in place. Visitor logs at multiuse facilities will be scrapped, while the vaccine pass, which limits unvaccinated people from entering public places unless they submit negative PCR test results, will be maintained.

The government said these measures will be effective through March 13, noting that distancing rules will be relaxed further after Omicron's spread passes its peak in the country.

Although the authorities explained the relaxation of limits on business hours was inevitable to relieve the burden on small business owners, medical experts denounced the move, calling it a decision made on political rather than scientific grounds.

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Choi Jae-wook, a professor of preventive medicine at Korea University, said the government is "adding fuel to the fire of virus transmissions."

"There seems to be no scientific or medical basis to the government's policy changes. Rather, they were driven by political intentions," Choi told The Korea Times. "Some may think that operating hours being extended by just one hour would have little effect on the amount of private gatherings, but the effects may be tremendous."

A medical worker guides people at a COVID-19 screening center in Songpa District, Seoul, Friday. Yonhap

The expert pointed out that even the slightest easing of distancing regulations sends the wrong message to the public that the current situation is not severe.

"In the last few weeks, the government has been failing to engage in responsible risk communication, giving out wrong signals that the Omicron wave is less dangerous than previous ones," he said.

"But that's not true. We are in the middle of the worst crisis yet. Hospitals could be filled up with critically ill patients in the coming weeks."

Jacob Lee, a professor of infectious diseases at Hallym University, criticized the authorities for ignoring experts' advice.

Lee was formerly a member of a government committee on drawing up social distancing rules, but he resigned from the post on Wednesday, in protest of the public officials' push to ease quarantine measures.

"It's like hell in COVID-19 hospitals," he wrote on Facebook. "The government should not discuss easing of distancing rules, until at least the country reaches the pinnacle of the Omicron wave."

He added, "But from now on, I will stop commenting on social distancing measures. The government won't listen anyway."

Korea's ongoing battle with its worst COVID-19 crisis yet due to the fast spread of Omicron has gained attention from overseas media outlets.

The New York Times reported, in an article titled "South Korea, a virus success story, now finds its model unsustainable," on how Omicron has forced the country to shift from its 3T (test, trace, treat) strategy to the current "select and focus" scheme.

It pointed out that the new approach, which leaves less vulnerable patients to look after themselves at home, has unsettled people who perceive this as "home abandonment."

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