Daejeon City Faces Criticism After Easing Social Distancing... 60 Confirmed Cases on First Day of Relaxation

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Daejeon City's quarantine response is drawing criticism. There are concerns that the recent easing of social distancing measures could inadvertently lead to the spread and prolongation of COVID-19.

According to the city on the 3rd, Daejeon eased its social distancing level from level 4 to level 3 starting from the 1st. This comes 36 days after the upgrade to level 4 on July 27.

The city cited the decrease in the weekly average number of confirmed cases from 60-70 to the 30s, the significant reduction of infections in specific groups (facilities) due to the implementation of level 4, and the partial resolution of infection chains that had been spreading mainly among individuals, families, and acquaintances as reasons for easing social distancing. They judged that the situation had entered a manageable range even with the easing.

In particular, the extreme dissatisfaction of local small business owners and self-employed individuals seems to have considerably influenced the city's decision to ease social distancing. This is in the context that the city could not ignore the difficulties faced by local small business owners and self-employed people who were unable to operate their businesses during the five weeks of level 4 social distancing.

In fact, Daejeon Mayor Heo Tae-jung said when announcing the easing of social distancing, "During the more than one month of level 4 social distancing, the damage to local small business owners and self-employed individuals has reached a serious level," and added, "The city decided to ease social distancing considering these circumstances."

However, there are mixed reactions in the region regarding the city's decision to ease social distancing. The mainstream concern is that the infectious disease spread, which had somewhat slowed down due to maintaining level 4, could face a renewed crisis due to the easing.

Jang Tae-hwan (29), a resident of Seo-gu, Daejeon, said, "The city's easing of social distancing was a 'hasty decision,'" and expressed concern, "I worry that the COVID-19 infection situation, which had temporarily slowed, might worsen due to the easing."

Also, Seo Min-ji (38), a housewife, said, "I understand the difficulties of self-employed people, but I don't think easing social distancing right now will significantly improve their situation," and added, "I think the city should have been more cautious about easing social distancing."

Supporting these concerns, on the first day of easing social distancing (the 1st), a total of 61 new confirmed cases were reported in Daejeon, putting quarantine authorities on alert.

Above all, the confirmed cases on that day are presumed to have been mainly infected through contact among family and acquaintances, and some of the confirmed cases are local university students, making it impossible to completely rule out the possibility of a chain infection within the university.

Meanwhile, the city applied the easing measures from the 1st but left room to readjust the social distancing level according to the government's quarantine response policy to be announced after the 6th.

Currently, with the easing of social distancing in Daejeon, the ban on gatherings at all facilities, including entertainment venues, has been lifted. However, private gatherings are still limited to 4 people, the same as level 4; meetings for formal introductions (sang-gyeon-rae) are limited to 8 people, and first birthday parties (dol-janchi) to 16 people. The number of people allowed to gather at wedding halls and funeral homes is limited to 49 each.

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