Government: Infection Reproduction Number at 'Epidemic Suppression' Level... International Flight Frequency to Increase from May

Infection Reproduction Number Drops Below 1 to 0.91 After 11 Weeks
'Visiting Face-to-Face Medical Care' Implemented for High-Risk Facilities
Weekly International Flights to Americas and Europe Increased by 100 Each Month... 300 Additional Flights Starting July

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The government recently reported that the average daily number of confirmed cases over the past week has decreased by 30% compared to the previous week, down to around 270,000 cases, and the infection reproduction number (Rt) has fallen to 0.91, below 1 for the first time in 11 weeks, indicating 'epidemic suppression.' They expect the number of confirmed cases to continue to decline.

Jeon Hae-cheol, the 2nd Deputy Head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (CDSCH) and Minister of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, stated in his opening remarks at the CDSCH meeting on the 6th, "After 10 weeks of continuous increase, the number of confirmed cases has been on a downward trend for three consecutive weeks. The infection reproduction number has dropped to 0.91, below 1 for the first time in 11 weeks, indicating 'epidemic suppression.' The number of critically ill patients has been steadily decreasing since reaching a peak of 1,315 at the end of last month, and the intensive care unit bed occupancy rate is being stably managed at around 60%."

The government plans to continuously expand outpatient treatment centers from general neighborhood clinics so that Omicron-confirmed patients can receive prescriptions and treatment through face-to-face consultations without major inconvenience. For high-risk facilities, 'visiting face-to-face treatment' will be implemented. Deputy Head Jeon said, "We will continue to expand the outpatient treatment centers, currently at about 4,800, to increase the proportion of face-to-face treatment for COVID-19 patients. For nursing facilities, we will implement 'visiting face-to-face treatment' to ensure appropriate medical support when confirmed cases occur."

He added, "At the city, county, and district levels, mobile task forces consisting of doctors and nurses will be operated to ensure measures such as on-site prescription of oral antiviral drugs are taken to prevent severe cases."

He also announced that the maximum daily cremation capacity is continuously being improved. Deputy Head Jeon said, "We will support labor costs necessary for the additional operation of cremation facilities to increase cremation capacity by local governments, and expand budget support for installing refrigerated mortuaries and low-temperature mortuary rooms."

Furthermore, as overseas countries where the Omicron wave has passed its peak are easing quarantine policies one after another, the government will gradually increase the number of international flights starting in May. The normalization of international flights at regional airports is also planned.

Deputy Head Jeon explained, "Starting next month, we will increase the weekly number of international flights by 100 for regions such as the Americas, Europe, Thailand, and Singapore, where quarantine exemptions and visa-free entry are possible, and from July, we will increase by 300 flights monthly. Currently, international flights are only available at Gimhae and Daegu airports, but next month, they will be expanded to Muan, Cheongju, and Jeju airports, and other airports such as Gimpo and Yangyang will sequentially resume operations."

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