"Reducing Steps, Simplifying Criteria"... Major Debate on Social Distancing Reform

Professor Ki Moran: "Simplify current 5 stages to 3 stages... Allow daily decisions"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ji-hee] As high-intensity social distancing measures continue due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, voices expressing fatigue are increasing. In response, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (CDSCH) of the Ministry of Health and Welfare held a public forum on the 9th to discuss the reorganization of the social distancing system. At the forum, experts pointed out that the current social distancing system needs to be fundamentally restructured to respond more effectively to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Kang Do-tae, the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, stated in his opening remarks at the forum, “The government plans to completely overhaul the social distancing system by reflecting on the experiences and evaluations from responding to the third wave.” He added, “Through this forum, we aim to discuss improvements to the social distancing stages and criteria, classification of multi-use facilities, and quarantine guidelines.”

The current social distancing system faced controversy over the appropriateness of the criteria and timing for escalating stages during the rapid spread of the third wave. It was also criticized for excessive socio-economic costs due to operating restrictions focused on multi-use facilities. Consequently, there were repeated calls to minimize the damage to self-employed individuals and small business owners caused by operational restrictions and to enhance the fairness of quarantine guidelines.

In response, Vice Minister Kang said, “We will gather opinions today and minimize direct operational regulations on multi-use facilities in the future, creating precise quarantine guidelines based on autonomy and responsibility.” He explained, “We will devise measures to share the burden of quarantine with the public by lowering infection risks through behavioral regulations such as mandatory mask-wearing and limits on gathering sizes outside of multi-use facilities.”

Professor Ki Mo-ran of the Graduate School of International Cancer Science, who presented at the forum, proposed revising the current five-stage social distancing system into a lifestyle quarantine (stage 0) and stages 1, 2, and 3. Stage 1 represents a stable decline within the healthcare system’s capacity, stage 2 is a stage requiring urgent response due to high risk of spread, and stage 3 is when active response is necessary due to rapid risk escalation threatening the healthcare system. She said, “The number of stages should be reduced and criteria simplified so decisions can be made daily. When confirmed cases surge, the stage should be raised quickly if even one criterion is met, and when stable, the stage should be lowered only if all criteria are met.”

The criteria for adjusting stages include the infection reproduction number, daily confirmed cases (based on local occurrence), daily test positivity rate, and positivity rate of temporary screening tests. However, all criteria should be considered as a ‘7-day average’ rather than daily.

According to Professor Ki’s proposed social distancing stages, stage 1 criteria include an infection reproduction number below 0.8, fewer than 200 daily confirmed cases (less than 4 per 1 million population), daily test positivity rate below 1%, and temporary screening test positivity rate below 0.1%. Stage 3 applies when one or more of the following conditions are met: infection reproduction number of 2 or higher, 500 or more daily confirmed cases (1 or more per 100,000 population), daily test positivity rate of 3% or higher, or temporary screening test positivity rate of 0.3% or higher.

There is also a stance that quarantine guidelines should be clear according to each stage. At the lifestyle quarantine stage, private gatherings of 20 or more people are prohibited; at stage 1, gatherings of 10 or more; at stage 2, 5 or more; and at stage 3, 3 or more are restricted. Additionally, different criteria are proposed for event sizes, business hours restrictions, religious gatherings, remote work, and sports viewing according to each stage.

Professor Ki stated, “If the transmission risk is low and management feasibility is high, the system can continue to operate autonomously with enhanced autonomy on the ground. Conversely, if the transmission risk is high but management feasibility is also high, strengthened quarantine guidelines will be applied, minimizing operational and gathering bans.” She added, “We are reviewing the reorganization of quarantine guidelines by reclassifying key management facilities and general management facilities, in consultation with relevant ministries, to prepare stage-specific quarantine guidelines. The plan is to minimize gathering bans as much as possible.”

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