Prime Minister Jeong's Stern Warning to Citizens Enjoying Flower Viewing: "It Will Be Too Late to Regret Once the Pandemic Starts"

Prime Minister Jeong Sye-kyun

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwangho Lee] Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said on the 12th, "If we become complacent here, it will give the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) an opportunity to spread explosively again. Once a pandemic starts, it will be too late to regret."

On the same day, Prime Minister Chung presided over the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters meeting on COVID-19 response held at the Government Seoul Office and stated, "Many citizens gather at popular flower viewing spots and parks to the extent that maintaining safe distances is impossible. When Seoul City issued a ban on gatherings at clubs and entertainment establishments, crowds flocked to places operating similar businesses. There were even cases where students attended academies that manage remote classes."

Prime Minister Chung emphasized, "There is a time lag in the transmission of infectious diseases," adding, "The current positive numbers are thanks to the people faithfully practicing strong social distancing measures until last week. However, you must not misunderstand this as a signal that it is okay to return to normal daily life."

He continued, "The Spanish flu 100 years ago subsided several times but then spread more widely than before, and MERS, which has much lower infectivity compared to COVID-19, also took considerable time to end," adding, "Even at this moment, COVID-19 may be hiding and active among 'silent spreaders' who do not even know they are infected."

Prime Minister Chung stressed, "Social distancing is the most powerful weapon in the fight against COVID-19," and urged, "Please do not lower your guard and thoroughly practice strong social distancing measures for the time being."

Regarding the early voting for the 21st National Assembly election held on the 9th and 10th, he said, "Despite the enthusiastic participation that recorded the highest early voting rate ever, a safe voting environment was maintained with physical distancing, mask-wearing, and vinyl gloves," and requested, "If there were any shortcomings during the early voting process, please make improvements by the election day."

The early voting rate for the April 15 general election recorded the highest ever at 26.69%. This is the highest since early voting was first introduced in the 2014 local elections. The previous highest early voting rate was 26.06% during the 2017 presidential election.

Furthermore, he stated, "In this election, voters under self-quarantine will participate after the general public has finished voting," and added, "Meticulous quarantine measures must be implemented to thoroughly separate their movement paths from those of the general public during the voting process. Although there will be difficulties, please approach this with the determination to show the world an exemplary voting process under quarantine."

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