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| Quarantine officers guide travelers from overseas at the arrival hall of Incheon International Airport, Tuesday. Yonhap |
By Lee Hyo-jin
Social distancing measures here will be significantly eased from Thursday as announced earlier by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, despite lingering concerns over a resurgence in COVID-19 cases and an increasing rate of infections by variants of the coronavirus.
Concerns are mounting that the eased measures may lead to an increase in infections, especially among young and middle-aged people, most of whom have not been vaccinated.
Also, a recent surge in cases due to new strains, including the highly-contagious Delta variant, has put the health authorities on alert.
The government has so far confirmed 2,492 infections by variants ― among them, 2,075 were found to be from the Alpha strain after genetic sequencing, followed by 263 from the Delta variant.
In spite of the concerns, the government is proceeding with its plan to allow more gatherings and eased mask requirements from July by introducing a new social-distancing system and vaccine incentives.
Under the four-tier distancing plan, Seoul and its surrounding areas will fall under Level 2 social-distancing measures, which allows eateries, cafes and entertainment facilities to operate until midnight ― a two-hour extension from the current 10 p.m.
The current limit of a maximum four people in private gatherings will be eased, allowing meetings of up to six in the greater Seoul area during a two-week trial period, after which the ceiling may be increased to eight.
Other regions will be placed under Level 1 social-distancing rules, under which the ceiling for gathering bans is lifted. But many local governments have made their own decisions to limit gatherings to eight people during the trial period.
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| Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol speaks during a briefing on COVID-19 response measures at the Government Complex Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap |
In addition, people who have received at least one dose of the vaccine will be able to go outdoors without wearing a mask, as a part of the government's incentives offered to vaccinated people.
Medical experts have continued to warn that it is too early to ease the regulations, citing the country's low vaccination rate and emerging risks of virus variants.
"We have learned from past experience that the government should take bold measures when tightening the regulations, while showing prudence in loosening them," said Jung Jae-hun, a professor of preventive medicine at Gachon Medical University.
He believes that delaying the easing of social distancing rules by a few more weeks would make it significantly easier to control the country's COVID-19 situation in the latter half of the year.
"Relaxing the regulations all at once could make people feel that things have returned to a pre-COVID-19 normalcy," said Chon Eun-mi, a professor at the Department of Pulmonology of Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital.
"It would have been better if the government had chosen to gradually loosen the measures," she added.
Partially recognizing such concerns, the health ministry announced strengthened quarantine measures in the greater Seoul area, Tuesday, where around 80 percent of total infections nationwide have been reported recently.
However, these measures will not include operating bans on specific facilities or tightened restrictions on gatherings, only preemptive monitoring of high-risk facilities and increased COVID-19 testing.
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