'With Corona' at a Crossroads... President Moon to Preside Over Special Inspection Meeting Today

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Ji-eun] On the afternoon of the 29th, President Moon Jae-in will preside over the ‘Special COVID-19 Response Quarantine Inspection Meeting’ at the Blue House Yeomin-gwan, attended by heads of related ministries. This meeting is an opportunity to evaluate the implementation of the ‘gradual recovery of daily life’ over the past four weeks, review the treatment system, additional vaccinations, quarantine status, and discuss countermeasures.

This special quarantine inspection meeting is the first since the 4th wave of the pandemic, and it appears to consider the sharp increase in confirmed and critically ill cases following the implementation of the first phase of gradual daily life recovery earlier this month, as well as the seriousness of the recent Omicron variant. Initially, the Blue House had anticipated that the number of confirmed cases could surge up to 10,000 due to the gradual recovery of daily life, so the current rapid increase in new confirmed cases is less than expected. On the other hand, the surge in critically ill patients has exceeded the Blue House’s expectations, and a shortage of hospital beds is occurring on the ground, so countermeasures regarding this issue are expected to be the main topic of discussion.

In particular, whether the government will suspend the existing gradual recovery of daily life and strengthen social distancing is a key issue. However, considering the damage to small business owners and self-employed individuals, it is more likely that measures will be proposed to stably manage the current situation by increasing vaccinations, such as shortening the interval for additional vaccinations (booster shots), expanding vaccine passes, and requiring unvaccinated individuals to bear part of their treatment costs, rather than suspending the gradual recovery of daily life.

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