Jeonnam Allows Private Gatherings of Up to 6 People Starting Tomorrow... Level 1 Social Distancing Reform Plan Applied

Son Young-rae, Head of the Strategic Planning Division at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (Spokesperson for the Ministry of Health and Welfare), is briefing on the COVID-19 Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters results at the Government Seoul Office Building on the 2nd.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The revised 'social distancing' measures for COVID-19 prevention will be pilot-applied in Jeonnam for one week starting from the 3rd. This is the second pilot application following Gyeongbuk, which began on the 26th of last month.

According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (CDSCH) on the 2nd, Jeonnam will pilot the revised social distancing level 1 from the 3rd to the 9th in all 22 cities and counties within the province. If the total weekly number of patients in cities and counties with a population under 100,000 is fewer than 5, it corresponds to level 1 under the revised guidelines.

Accordingly, in Jeonnam, private gatherings of up to 6 people and events or gatherings of up to 300 people are allowed. In the 12 counties of Gyeongbuk where level 1 of the revised plan was applied earlier, private gatherings of up to 8 people are permitted, but Jeonnam has restricted this to 6 people, which is fewer.

Son Youngrae, head of the Social Strategy Division at the Central Accident Response Headquarters, stated at a regular briefing, "Gyeongbuk's pilot project was focused on northern areas with cities and counties under 100,000 population and rural areas, but Jeonnam applies it to the entire province."

He added, "Jeonnam is quite large overall, and unlike Gyeongbuk's pilot project, urban areas are also included, so regarding the ban on private gatherings, we decided to allow up to 6 people first under the policy of gradually expanding the restrictions. This decision was made after discussions with county governors and mayors within the local government, and we plan to observe this and further expand the scale in the future."

Currently, Jeonnam is under social distancing level 1.5, so there are no operational restrictions on livelihood facilities. Even with the revised plan applied, there will be no restrictions in this regard. If the number of confirmed cases increases and meets the criteria for raising the level, social distancing will be immediately upgraded from the next day and maintained for at least 3 days.

The CDSCH reported that Jeonnam is experiencing about 56.5 confirmed cases per 100,000 population, with an average of 2.3 new cases daily, indicating relatively stable epidemic control. The vaccination participation rate in Jeonnam is 10.7%, with a total of 197,766 people vaccinated so far.

In line with the pilot application of the revised social distancing in Jeonnam, special quarantine management will also be promoted. Diagnostic tests will be conducted on contacts or suspected contacts of confirmed cases, and in addition to environmental specimen testing, mobile testing will be implemented by visiting the homes of test subjects directly or operating testing buses.

Considering the high aging rate in Jeonnam, weekly diagnostic tests will be conducted at nursing hospitals and care facilities, and a one-on-one dedicated public official system will be used to check for any symptomatic individuals within the facilities.

Meanwhile, the government’s previously announced revised social distancing plan aims to reduce the current 5 levels (1→1.5→2→2.5→3) to 4 levels (1 to 4) and minimize business closures of multi-use facilities.

Under the revised plan, the size of private gatherings also changes. Level 1 has no restrictions; level 2 allows up to 8 people (gatherings of 9 or more prohibited); levels 3 to 4 allow up to 4 people (gatherings of 5 or more prohibited). However, at level 4, a 'ban on gatherings of 3 or more people' after 6 p.m. is applied, allowing only 2 people to meet. The government plans to fully implement the revised plan from July if new confirmed cases are controlled below 1,000.

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