Park Neung-hoo "Initiating 3-step review... Last chance to prevent social distancing escalation" (Update)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] The government warned that if the current spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) continues, it will be inevitable to raise the social distancing level to Stage 3. Currently, the metropolitan area is at Level 2.5, and non-metropolitan areas are at Level 2.

Park Neung-hoo, the first deputy head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (Minister of Health and Welfare), said at a regular briefing on the 13th, "If the current spread continues, raising to Stage 3 is inevitable to prevent the collapse of the medical system, which is already reaching its limit."

As the number of new confirmed cases reached the 1,000s for the first time since the domestic outbreak of COVID-19, Deputy Head Park said, "The government will begin reviewing the possibility of raising to Stage 3 by gathering opinions from local governments in the metropolitan area and related experts in preparation for any situation," emphasizing, "This moment is the last chance to prevent raising social distancing to Stage 3."

According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, the average daily number of locally transmitted confirmed cases over the past week from the 6th of this month to the day before was 662, nearly 200 more than the previous week (487.7). Among these, the average daily confirmed cases in the metropolitan area were 494.4, accounting for about 75% of the total.

The government urged minimizing movement now, as raising social distancing to Stage 3 would inevitably impact the livelihood economy. Deputy Head Park said, "Stage 3 social distancing is a last resort and will cause widespread damage to the livelihood economy," adding, "It will be an unbearable pain for self-employed and small business owners who have endured long-term commercial damage."

He continued, "We must prevent the interruption of daily life and livelihoods. Please stay safely at home and minimize movement," raising his voice, "The more you reduce outings and gatherings even once, the more thoroughly you follow personal quarantine rules, and the more actively you get tested, the less likely our daily lives will be forcibly stopped."

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