Daegu Mayor Kwon Young-jin: "February is a critical month" ... Current social distancing measures extended for 2 more weeks

Mayor Kwon Young-jin of Daegu. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yeo Jong-gu] Daegu City will extend social distancing for two weeks as it is currently.

Daegu City announced on the 4th that, following the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters' policy and considering the spread of Omicron, social distancing will be maintained as it is from the 7th to the 20th.

The city took this measure as confirmed cases have surged sharply since the third week of January due to the spread of Omicron, and the number of confirmed cases is expected to continue increasing for a considerable period, aiming to minimize severe and fatal damage.

Also, considering the increased movement during the Lunar New Year holidays and that Omicron has higher transmissibility compared to the Delta variant, it is difficult to predict the peak timing and scale of the domestic outbreak, so the current distancing measures will be maintained for two weeks.

Going forward, the city plans to respond to this outbreak without strengthening distancing measures as much as possible. If a crisis situation such as medical system collapse or a sharp increase in deaths is expected, additional strengthening measures such as restrictions on private gatherings or business hours will be reviewed.

However, if the severity and fatality rates remain stable and the medical system has sufficient capacity, easing of quarantine measures and resumption of daily life will also be considered.

Daegu Mayor Kwon Young-jin said, “Considering the high transmissibility of Omicron, February is expected to be a critical period,” and added, “To enable a safe return to daily life, we ask citizens to actively participate in vaccination and comply with quarantine rules.”

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