Gov't slammed for belatedly strengthening social distancing measures

A screen at a testing center for the coronavirus in Gwangju, Friday, shows a report on the emergence of the Omicron variant. Yonhap

Private gatherings in capital area to be limited to 6 from Monday

By Bahk Eun-ji

The government has faced increasing criticism over its belated decision to re-impose strengthened social distancing measures in order to protect against the continued spread of COVID-19. The decision was made after the country's medical system almost reached its limit and the emergence of the Omicron variant here was confirmed.

The government announced Friday that it would again tighten the measures, which had been eased amid the government's policy shift to a "Living with COVID-19" strategy from Nov. 1.

Under the new measures, starting Dec. 6, private gatherings in the capital area will be limited to six people, down from the current 10. The number will be limited to eight in other regions, down from the current 12. Among the six or eight people, only one unvaccinated person will be allowed. The new measures will last for the next four weeks.

The "vaccine pass" system, which allows fully vaccinated people or those with negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) results to enter multiuse facilities, will also be expanded.

While the system was previously in use at indoor sports facilities, karaoke rooms, public bathhouses and nightlife establishments, it will now be applied to almost all indoor public facilities, including restaurants, cafes, private academies ("hakwons"), internet cafes, movie theaters, concert halls, libraries and museums.

The expanded vaccine pass system will be in effect from Dec. 6, but there will be a weeklong grace period to minimize confusion.

"We plan to expand the vaccine pass system comprehensively to lower the risk of infections in our daily lives," Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said during a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters at the Government Complex Seoul, Friday.

For people under the age of 18, the vaccine pass will be implemented from February next year, contrary to the government's earlier position that it would not be applied to minors, following a spike in the number of infections among young people.

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"The government will promptly evaluate all virus situations and, if necessary, take more powerful measures to strengthen the quarantine measures at any time," Kim said.

Kim reiterated the importance of vaccination, saying, "Vaccines are currently the most reliable defense against COVID-19. The booster shot for the elderly and the vaccine for adolescents hold the key to success of the country's quarantine work."

But experts say that the government's strengthening of these measures has come too late, as the pandemic had already been on an expanding path.

A quarantine officer guides people in the arrivals hall of Incheon International Airport, Friday, when the Korean government re-started the policy of a 10-day quarantine on all arrivals from abroad amid mounting concerns over an additional influx of the Omicron coronavirus variant. Yonhap

Epidemiologists have called for stronger measures such as limiting business hours, as well as securing more medical personnel and hospital beds for critically ill patients. In addition, they have said the government should spend money to expand compensation for the losses small business owners and the self-employed have undergone.

"If the government wants this level of measures, it should have implemented them at least two weeks ago," said Choi Jae-wook, a professor of preventive medicine at Korea University.

"People must have misunderstandings about the ambiguous message from the government, which kept saying it would look into the situation for a while. The limit of private gatherings of six or eight people is nothing but a minimum measure. It is necessary to ask people to refrain from private gatherings and movement as much as possible, to cause a change in people's behavior," Choi said.

"The measures that came out today are not intense; they are strategies to minimize damage to self-employed people," said Chon Eun-mi, a professor of respiratory medicine at Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital.

"In order to effectively reduce the number of daily infections, the limit of private gatherings should be further strengthened, and the public's movements should be drastically reduced by limiting the hours of operation of multiuse facilities," Chon said.

Meanwhile, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 4,944 new infections for Thursday ― below the 5,000 recorded for the past two days ― but the number of critically ill patients hit another record high of 736. It also added 34 new deaths bringing the overall toll to 3,739.

Regarding the Omicron variant, an infection cluster is suspected to have occurred at a church in Incheon, linked to one of the nation's first reported cases of the variant.

While an Uzbek man was confirmed to have the variant Dec. 1, his wife, mother-in-law and an acquaintance were also infected with the coronavirus, and the health authorities are conducting genome sequencing on them to see if they also have Omicron.

The three people attended a church event Nov. 28, unaware that the man was infected, and the authorities said Friday that they had confirmed COVID-19 infections among other members of the congregation who attended the event. They did not disclose the exact number, saying that this is likely to keep growing, as the 411 people who participated in the event, as well as 369 who attended another one at the church later, are undergoing testing.