President Moon: "COVID-19, Stay Alert for Small-Scale Cluster Infections... The Time from Now Is Crucial"

President Moon Jae-in is speaking at the joint COVID-19 metropolitan area quarantine meeting held at Seoul City Hall on the 16th. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Son Sun-hee] President Moon Jae-in addressed the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) situation, stating, "Small-scale cluster infections continue to occur, so we cannot afford to let our guard down even for a moment," and emphasized, "From now on, it is even more important."

At 2 p.m. that day, President Moon held the 'COVID-19 Metropolitan Area Quarantine Countermeasure Meeting' and stressed, "It is a very critical time for the success of quarantine in the metropolitan area, where half of our population lives." He added, "There remains a concern that if a larger-scale cluster infection occurs in the metropolitan area or if community transmission spreads rapidly, all efforts and achievements made so far in quarantine could return to square one."

President Moon said, "Due to the rapid deterioration of the overseas situation, the tension regarding imported cases has also increased significantly," and stated, "Whether we can continue the calming trend and firmly establish stability depends on the success of quarantine in the metropolitan area, and it is no exaggeration to say so."

However, he positively evaluated the recent decrease in additional confirmed cases. President Moon said, "The number of new confirmed cases has significantly decreased nationwide, including in the Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions, which accounted for a large proportion," and added, "Meanwhile, the number of recovered patients has increased, reducing the number of patients receiving isolation treatment." He further stated, "Unless an unexpected situation arises, this pace is expected to accelerate," and added, "Accordingly, confidence that 'we can overcome COVID-19' is growing, and the international community's evaluation and interest in our quarantine system are increasing."

The meeting was attended by metropolitan area heads including Park Won-soon, Mayor of Seoul; Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province; and Park Nam-chun, Mayor of Incheon.

President Moon said, "Since the metropolitan area is effectively a single living zone, joint quarantine through cooperation among local governments is very important," and urged, "While strengthening quarantine measures for multi-use crowded facilities and high-risk workplaces, which are vulnerable points for infection spread in each local government, it is crucial to establish a system for sharing information and cooperating as one living zone." He added, "Please cooperate closely in sharing essential quarantine information such as confirmed case data and movement routes, the metropolitan transportation network quarantine system, and hospital bed utilization."

President Moon stated, "The government will also support the efforts of local governments to prevent the spread of infectious diseases," and said, "We will do our best to thoroughly block the inflow of COVID-19 spreading worldwide into the country so that difficulties do not arise in the community quarantine network."

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