Prime Minister Chung: "90% of Imported COVID-19 Cases Are Our Citizens... Entry Ban Measures Face Constraints"

Prime Minister Jeong Sye-kyun

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said on the 27th regarding the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) situation, "Considering that 90% of all overseas imported cases are our nationals, there are limitations in adopting extreme measures such as immediate entry bans."

On the same day, Prime Minister Chung held a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters (CDSCH) for COVID-19 response at the Government Seoul Office and stated, "Although the number of newly confirmed domestic infection cases has decreased to a relatively stable level, the proportion of confirmed cases imported from overseas is increasing. Managing the risks coming from abroad is a very important point."

Prime Minister Chung emphasized, "To prevent overseas imported cases from spreading into the local community, the current system based on mandatory self-quarantine must be thoroughly implemented."

He added, "The role of local governments managing self-quarantined arrivals on the ground is crucial. Especially, successful management in the Seoul metropolitan area, where more than 70% of all arrivals have their addresses, will determine the overall outcome of this fight."

Prime Minister Chung said, "Starting with Seoul today, we will inspect the management status of overseas arrivals by local governments," and ordered, "Each local government should manage overseas arrivals with extraordinary determination, and related ministries must make every effort to provide the information and resources needed by local governments in a timely manner."

He also mentioned, "It is still too early to evaluate whether the April 6 school reopening is possible, but we must start preparing for the 'new normal' after reopening," adding, "Given the nature of infectious diseases that do not disappear all at once, it is clear that we cannot expect a return to ordinary life as before COVID-19 for a considerable period after reopening."

Furthermore, he expressed, "There is a need for flexible and sustainable new daily quarantine guidelines that reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission while allowing economic activities and daily life to continue," and stated, "Next week, we will discuss daily quarantine guidelines by sector including education, culture, leisure, labor, religion, and dining out."

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