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| Officials at Songpa District Office in Seoul look at a screen showing 100,285 daily COVID-19 cases reported on Wednesday, the highest figure in over three months. Joint Press Corps |
Number of daily new infections tops 100,000, highest figure in over 3 months
By Lee Hyo-jin
The government has announced plans to curb the ongoing COVID-19 wave through "autonomy- and solidarity-based" quarantine measures in daily life, Wednesday, as Korea is grappling with a massive surge of infections fueled by the highly transmissible BA.5 Omicron subvariant.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) has ruled out the reintroduction of a mandatory social distancing scheme as had been used earlier in the pandemic, considering the socio-economic damage it would likely cause.
Moreover, the lower fatality rate of the Omicron series of subvariants ― which stood at 0.06 percent as of June ― is another reason the health authorities believe that the current wave could be overcome without reinstating mandatory social distancing measures.
"This is the first wave of infections without limitations on private gatherings and operating hours (of multiuse facilities). We urge every individual voluntarily to follow the quarantine measures," KDCA chief Peck Kyong-ran said during a joint briefing by the relevant ministries.
The country's top disease expert said that her agency will continue to implement "autonomous" social distancing measures, which rely on the participation and cooperation of the public in taking antivirus precautions.
A government survey conducted between July 21 and 25 among 1,000 adults showed that 58.5 percent of respondents agreed that the government should carry out autonomous social distancing while putting more resources into protecting the people most vulnerable. Another 38.5 percent were in favor of government-led quarantine measures such as tighter social distancing measures.
In response to queries about whether the government is considering introducing additional measures if the current policies show limited effects in containing the virus spread, Peck said, "The number of infections is expected to increase for the time being. But we will thoroughly review the need to adopt additional response measures in critical situations such as a rise in the fatality rate or issues in the treatment of critically ill patients."
She also urged people to comply with basic protection measures in their daily lives such as the mandatory wearing of face masks, maintaining personal distance, ventilating indoor spaces and washing hands frequently.
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| Peck Kyong-ran, commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, speaks during a COVID-19 response briefing at the agency's headquarters in Osong, North Chungcheong Province. Yonhap |
The Ministry of Health and Welfare said it plans to strengthen protective measures at high-risk facilities. Beginning Monday, it has limited visits to nursing homes and psychiatric hospitals, while obligating workers at these facilities to take a PCR test on a weekly basis to protect high-risk patients from infection.
The Ministry of Education, for its part, will focus on monitoring private academies and cram schools during the summer vacation period. It strongly recommended instructors refrain from holding group activities such as field trips and camping, and urged students to adhere to basic quarantine measures such as mandatory mask wearing in the classroom.
The labor authorities encouraged employers to encourage workers who have tested positive for the virus as well as those experiencing COVID-19 symptoms to stay home and said it will expand financial support for equipment and indirect labor costs for companies so that systems for working from home can be established.
In addition, civil servants are urged to refrain from holding face-to-face meeting or going on business trips, and they must receive rapid antigen tests upon returning to work after summer vacation.
To reduce the risk of infection at festivals and concerts in the summer holiday season, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said it will scale up on-site monitoring at concert halls, theaters, karaoke establishments and indoor sports stadiums for possible violations of the quarantine measures.
These announcements came as the country continues to see rapid increase in virus cases. The KDCA reported 100,285 new infections for Tuesday, the largest figure in over three months, raising the total caseload to 19,446,946. The number of patients in critical condition stood at 177 with 25 COVID-19-related deaths.
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