Daily COVID-19 Cases Reach 110,000... Restaurant Operations Limited to 10 PM, QR Code Registration Suspended

Meeting limit remains at maximum 6 people
From tomorrow for 3 weeks until May 13
Youth quarantine pass postponed to April

On the 18th, when the number of new COVID-19 cases exceeded 100,000 for the first time in history, citizens lined up to get tested at the screening clinic of Songpa-gu Public Health Center in Seoul. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

Due to the Omicron variant surge, the daily new COVID-19 cases in South Korea nearly reached 110,000 for the first time. Amid this, the government will extend the operating hours of restaurants and cafes from 9 PM to 10 PM starting on the 19th. The limit on private gatherings remains at a maximum of 6 people.

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters on the 18th, as of midnight, there were 109,831 new confirmed cases, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 1,755,806. Surpassing 100,000 cases is the first time in 2 years and 29 days since the first confirmed case in the country. The number of new cases doubled compared to 53,920 cases on the 11th a week ago, and quadrupled compared to 27,437 cases on the 4th two weeks ago, clearly showing a 'doubling' phenomenon where cases double every week.

In the metropolitan area, which has been recording the highest number of cases daily, 36,507 cases were reported in Gyeonggi, 25,626 in Seoul, and 7,342 in Incheon, totaling nearly 70,000 cases for the first time. In Seoul, each of the 25 districts recorded an average of over 1,000 confirmed cases. The number of patients under home treatment, which exceeded 300,000 (314,565) for the first time the previous day, increased to 351,695.

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum held a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters and announced adjustments to social distancing measures, stating, "Considering the deepening difficulties in the people's economy, we judged that minimal adjustments within the capacity of the restructured quarantine and medical system are inevitable."

Accordingly, the mandatory use of entry logs (QR codes, Safe Call, handwritten logs) for contact tracing purposes will be suspended. However, for facilities requiring vaccination proof or negative test confirmation (quarantine pass), QR services will continue to be provided to facilitate verification and proof of vaccination status for facility managers and users.

This adjustment will be applied for about three weeks until March 13. The youth quarantine pass, which was planned to be implemented from April 1, will be postponed by one month and will now take effect on April 1.

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