Park Won-soon "Daily cases could reach around 800 in a month... We must stay vigilant"

"May Return to 'Social Distancing' if Situation Worsens"
"Urging Vigilance and Restraint Equivalent to Social Distancing"

Mayor Park Won-soon of Seoul / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Lim Juhyung] Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon announced that "the number of new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) in Korea is predicted to reach around 800 per day in a month" and stated that quarantine measures will be strengthened.

At a briefing held at Seoul City Hall on the 22nd, Mayor Park said, "From April 30 to June 11, the nationwide average infection reproduction number (R value) sharply increased to 1.79."

The R value is a figure that calculates the number of other patients one patient can additionally infect. If the R value exceeds 1, the number of new confirmed cases can continue to increase.

Mayor Park emphasized, "If this continues, it means we are one month away from the second large outbreak," and added, "If the second large outbreak occurs and overlaps with the summer season or the autumn and winter flu season, the current medical quarantine system could face the worst-case scenario of collapse."

He continued, "If after today, the daily average number of new confirmed cases in Seoul exceeds 30 for three consecutive days, or if the hospital bed occupancy rate reaches 70%, placing a burden on the public medical system, we will have no choice but to return to the previous social distancing measures."

He appealed, "Although it is still distancing in daily life, from now on, I ask citizens to have vigilance and restraint equivalent to social distancing."

In response to a question about whether lifting the ban on gatherings at general entertainment facilities last week and easing it to gathering restrictions contradicts the strengthening of quarantine measures, he replied, "Changing entertainment facilities to gathering restrictions actually strengthened the quarantine rules much more," and added, "It is a measure that is difficult to see as a relaxation in practice."

Meanwhile, Seoul City plans to establish an epidemiological investigation office, quarantine management team, and infectious disease research center starting in July to strengthen research and tracking management capabilities for infectious disease response.

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