"The Government Cautious About Raising Social Distancing, Saying 'We Will Monitor the Spread'"

On the 16th, when the government raised the social distancing measures to Level 2 due to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) in the Seoul and Gyeonggi areas, Yeouido Hangang Park in Seoul showed a quiet scene. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] On the 18th, the government stated regarding the escalation to social distancing level 3, "We will review it while monitoring the trend of infection spread." Since raising to level 3 would effectively halt all activities except essential economic ones, the decision will be made cautiously.

The government explained, "Escalating to level 3 greatly impacts the daily lives of citizens and the economy of ordinary people." Under level 3, gatherings, meetings, and events of 10 or more people are prohibited, and not only high-risk facilities but also medium-risk facilities such as bathhouses and movie theaters will be subject to closure. Schools will also switch to remote classes.

Social distancing level 3 is applied when the average daily confirmed cases increase by 100 to 200 or more within the last two weeks, or when a 'doubling' phenomenon?cases doubling compared to the previous day?occurs twice or more within one week. Over the past two weeks, the national average of confirmed cases was 82.8, and the metropolitan area average was 72.6, so the criteria for escalation have not yet been exceeded.

An official from the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters stated, "We plan to decide on escalation by considering various factors such as medical capacity, socio-economic costs, and characteristics of the outbreak areas."

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