"Social Distancing Effect Expected to Take Longer Than During the Second Wave (Update)"

On the 1st, as the quarantine authorities strengthened social distancing measures to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus infection, citizens were waiting for testing at the COVID-19 screening clinic at Jungnang-gu Public Health Center in Seoul. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] On the 14th day since the social distancing level in the Seoul metropolitan area was raised to level 1.5, the quarantine authorities said on the 2nd that "it will take more time for the distancing effect to appear compared to the second large-scale outbreak."

Park Young-jun, head of the epidemiological investigation team at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (CDSCH), said at a briefing that day, "The number of patients did not decrease as much as the reduction in mobility."

According to the Central Accident Response Headquarters' analysis of changes in residents' mobility based on mobile phone statistics, the nationwide mobility from the 28th to 29th of last month was 57,863,000 cases, a 12.2% decrease compared to 65,869,000 cases during the previous weekend (November 21?22). In particular, mobility in the Seoul metropolitan area decreased by 22.9% compared to before the social distancing was raised to level 1.5.

Park explained, "The number of patients in the metropolitan area has plateaued compared to two weeks ago but has generally declined compared to one week ago. However, the reduction in mobility is slower than when social distancing was implemented during the first and second outbreaks."

The quarantine authorities also viewed the large-scale occurrence of patients as a reason for the delayed effect of social distancing. Park said, "At the time social distancing started this time, the scale of cases was larger than during the second large-scale outbreak," adding, "After raising to level 2, mobility will decrease further, and it will take more time for the effects to appear compared to before."

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