Prime Minister Kim: "We Will Revise Social Distancing Within a Broad Framework"

Experts Say Government's Hasty Easing Message "Inappropriate"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki Ha-young, Sejong=Reporter Son Seon-hee] Despite the surge in new COVID-19 cases reaching 170,000 due to the Omicron wave, the government continues to send messages indicating it will rather ease quarantine measures such as social distancing. There are concerns that prematurely sending easing messages before reaching the peak of the wave may cause confusion.

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum chaired the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters meeting at the Government Complex Sejong on the 23rd, stating, "The cumulative number of confirmed cases over the past two years has reached 2 million, with 1 million occurring in the last 15 days," adding, "If that were the case, the number of deaths should have been halved, but it is only 7.8%." He emphasized, "There is no need to panic or be afraid."

Prime Minister Kim asserted, "We have already established a system capable of adequately responding to Omicron," and "The rates of severe cases and deaths are being managed relatively stably." He added, "This is probably the last hurdle for returning to normal life." He further stated, "Although Omicron is still heading toward its peak, once we determine that severe cases and deaths can be managed stably, we will broadly reform quarantine policies such as social distancing."

The government has been mentioning endemicity this week and continuously sending messages that "once the situation stabilizes, we will promote the recovery of daily life." Park Hyang, head of the Central Accident Response Headquarters' quarantine team, explained the day before, "We are currently at the initial stage of transitioning to an endemic management system while continuously assessing the risk of Omicron," adding, "Although there is still a long way to go, we have entered the initial phase of finding an exit."

Quarantine experts criticized the government's signals to ease quarantine measures as untimely amid the daily surge of COVID-19 cases toward the peak. Professor Kim Woo-joo of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Korea University Guro Hospital pointed out, "Omicron is heading toward its peak now, and the increasing number of confirmed cases has already thrown the medical field into chaos," adding, "The quarantine control tower is speaking out of touch with reality, which may give the public a wrong impression."

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