Concerns Become Reality... Limits of 'Everyday Quarantine'?... Return to 'Social Distancing' Possible (Update)

Government: "No Shift to Social Distancing Based on a Single Case"

On the 8th, a citizen is passing in front of 'King Club' in Itaewon, Seoul, where a confirmed case of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) had visited. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seunggon Han] Concerns are emerging about the effectiveness of the 'everyday quarantine' measures implemented on the 6th, after a cluster of confirmed COVID-19 cases were reported among contacts at a Seoul Itaewon club visited by a novel coronavirus (COVID-19) patient.

However, health authorities emphasized that they will not revert to 'social distancing' based solely on this situation, and stressed the need for efforts to control individual infection spread while implementing 'distancing in daily life.'

According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters on the 8th, 13 additional domestic COVID-19 cases were confirmed after midnight that day. The new cases are contacts of a 29-year-old male resident of Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, identified as Patient A, who was confirmed positive on the 6th.

Among them, 12 are contacts within the Itaewon club that Patient A visited during the golden holiday period. The number of contacts within the club linked to the Yongin patient is at least 1,500, raising the possibility of a cluster of additional confirmed cases. This is why concerns are being raised about the limits of everyday quarantine measures.

On the 2nd, when Patient A visited the club, 'social distancing' measures had been relaxed, but administrative orders requiring compliance with quarantine rules such as wearing masks and maintaining 1 to 2 meters of distance even in entertainment establishments were still in effect.

On the 8th, a citizen is passing in front of 'King Club' in Itaewon, Seoul, where a confirmed case of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) had visited. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

The occurrence of confirmed cases despite the social distancing period suggests that quarantine rules were either not properly followed at these facilities or that compliance was ineffective.

For this reason, some voices are calling for a return to social distancing. However, the government explained that the likelihood of reverting to social distancing based on this single case is low.

Kim Kang-lip, the first chief coordinator of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, said at a regular briefing held at the Government Sejong Complex on the same day, "It is unfortunate that the close contact within the club occurred before the transition to distancing in daily life," and added, "We will check with local governments during the epidemiological investigation whether quarantine rules were properly followed."

He explained, "Even after transitioning to distancing in daily life, sporadic small-scale cluster infections are likely to continue for a considerable period," and added, "We are accepting these risks in order to return to normal life."

He further elaborated, "Even if there are more confirmed cases, if they are being stably managed within the quarantine network, it means they are being properly controlled," and said, "We will comprehensively assess the overall risk and discuss accordingly."

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