COVID-19 Cases Reach 20,000, Lunar New Year Scene Changes 180 Degrees... PCR Tests Taken Even During Holiday

Giving Up Returning Home Due to COVID-19 Spread
Screening Clinics Crowded Throughout the Holiday

On the 28th, one day before the Lunar New Year holiday, people are lining up for COVID-19 testing at the Gangseo-gu Public Health Center screening clinic in Seoul. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy reporters Yoo Byung-don and Oh Kyu-min] Baek Jin-woo (alias, 62), who lives in the provinces, spent this holiday alone. Although it was a long five-day holiday including the weekend, the spread of COVID-19 was severe. Baek said, “I told my children not to come to our hometown and held the ancestral rites alone,” adding, “This is the first time I have spent the holiday like this, so I felt lonely.”

With daily COVID-19 cases exceeding 20,000 due to the Omicron variant and others, the scenes of celebrating the nation’s biggest holiday, Seollal, have changed significantly. Unlike before, when families spent time together after a long time, a heavy atmosphere continued as citizens kept heading to screening clinics even on the last day of the holiday.

Jeon (58), who lives in Dobong-gu, Seoul, also felt lonely during this Seollal holiday. He could not visit his mother, who suffers from dementia and is admitted to a nursing hospital. Due to government quarantine guidelines, family visits were restricted, and even video calls were difficult. Although he made and ate holiday food with other family members except his mother, Jeon sighed, saying, “I feel uneasy because I couldn’t see my elderly and ill mother.”

Even those who met their families could not spend long face-to-face time due to concerns about the spread of COVID-19. Lee Seung-hyun (alias, 46) heard about a colleague’s positive diagnosis on his way home and was about to turn back, but since he had come to his hometown, he met his parents in a parking lot for about three minutes. The next day, Lee was confirmed positive for COVID-19.

The scenes in Seoul were also different from usual. Screening clinics across the city were crowded with citizens seeking PCR tests. Kang Myung-eun (48), a water purifier maintenance worker met at the Dobong-gu Public Health Center screening clinic on the last day of the holiday, said, “Customers ask about vaccination status and PCR test negative results,” adding, “The company gave us self-diagnosis kits, but since they often have errors, my colleagues and I came to get tested together.”

Shim Hee-jung (50), who is scheduled to join a daycare center this month, said, “Since I will be working in contact with people, I have no choice but to get tested,” adding, “I have completed the third dose of the vaccine, but I have to take a rapid antigen test once a week to confirm a negative result.”

Due to the COVID-19 testing system being reorganized to focus on rapid antigen tests starting from the 3rd, self-diagnosis kits also experienced shortages. Seo (32), who lives in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, said, “There were too many people at the screening clinic, so I turned back and headed to a pharmacy, but I couldn’t get a kit,” adding, “I also checked social commerce sites, but they were sold out as well.”

Meanwhile, the daily number of COVID-19 confirmed cases recorded 22,908 as of midnight on the 3rd, breaking the record for the highest daily number of confirmed cases once again.

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