Social Distancing in the Capital Area Raised to Level 2.5 from 12 AM on the 8th... Non-Capital Areas at Level 2 (Update)

Applied for 3 weeks until the 28th of this month... "Nationwide pandemic on the verge of expansion"

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun is attending the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters meeting on COVID-19 response held at Seoul City Hall on the 6th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] Social distancing measures in the Seoul metropolitan area will be raised to Level 2.5 starting from the 8th of this month, while non-metropolitan areas will be raised to Level 2.

On the 6th, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters judged that the spread of COVID-19 in the metropolitan area has entered a full-scale pandemic stage and is on the verge of expanding into a nationwide pandemic. Accordingly, they announced that social distancing in the metropolitan area will be raised to Level 2.5, which corresponds to 'strict restrictions on social activities.' For non-metropolitan areas, it was decided to raise the level to 2.

The measures will be applied for three weeks, from 0:00 on the 8th (Tuesday) to 24:00 on the 28th (Monday) of this month.

The average daily number of domestic patients over the past week (November 30 to December 6) was 514, of which 375 were in the metropolitan area.

The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters explained, "Since last Thursday, more than 500 patients nationwide and more than 400 patients in the metropolitan area have been reported daily, and as of today, the average daily number of 500 patients, which is the criterion for Level 2.5, has been exceeded."

The government judged that the effects of previously implemented social distancing level increases to curb the COVID-19 spread and reduce patients have not been sufficient.

In particular, the number of patients continues to increase, and the burden on the healthcare system is growing.

Recently, 400 to 500 patients have been continuously reported daily, mainly in the metropolitan area, and patients are generally increasing in non-metropolitan areas as well, creating a very serious situation.

The average daily number of patients nationwide over the past week was 514.4, which falls within the range of the nationwide Level 2.5 criteria.

Due to more than 400 patients daily in the metropolitan area over the past four days, more than 70% of new patients are concentrated in the metropolitan area. This is the first time since the COVID-19 outbreak that the metropolitan area has reported more than 400 patients in a day.

The government implemented Level 1.5 in the metropolitan area on the 19th of last month, Level 2 on the 24th, and strengthened quarantine measures within Level 2 on the 1st of this month, but the spread has not been easily contained.

In non-metropolitan areas, sporadic cluster infections continue in several cities and provinces, and infections are spreading beyond any single region. There are also frequent cases where people who had contact with patients in the metropolitan area test positive in their local regions.

The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters stated, "The goal of this measure is to reduce the daily number of patients in the metropolitan area to around 150 to 200," adding, "The period may be extended or adjusted depending on the situation."

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