Prime Minister Jeong: "COVID-19, Cautiously Hopeful for an Inflection Point Soon"

Prime Minister Jeong Sye-kyun

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said on the 9th, "Although we must still be very cautious, there is hope that the government, local governments, the medical community, and the public can all work together to create a turning point soon."

On the same day, Prime Minister Chung held a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters for COVID-19 response at Daegu City Hall and stated, "The number of new confirmed cases, which had exceeded 500 per day, has decreased for three consecutive days."

He also added, "As the diagnostic testing of Shincheonji believers in the Daegu area is nearly complete, the rapidly rising spread has somewhat slowed down," and "With a considerable number of hospital beds and residential treatment centers secured to accommodate patients, the groundwork for solving the problem has been laid."

Prime Minister Chung continued, "The economic impact caused by COVID-19 is appearing much greater than initially feared," explaining, "In the Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions, raw material supply is not smooth, causing difficulties in factory operations, and the foot traffic to restaurants and shops has stopped, increasing the pain of self-employed business owners."

He then emphasized, "Today, I plan to meet with businesspeople in the Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions," adding, "I will humbly listen to the voices from the field and, based on that, find solutions on what and how the government should help."

Prime Minister Chung also mentioned, "Today is the first day of the five-day mask purchase system," and said, "During the first week of implementation, we will go to the field jointly with local governments to frequently check and supplement any inconveniences."

He concluded by earnestly requesting, "I once again sincerely ask the public to demonstrate civic consciousness of concession and consideration so that masks can be prioritized and distributed to those who truly need them."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.