GOV’T EXTENDS CURRENT DISTANCING MEASURES

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The government decided to extend the current level of social distancing measures for two more weeks. Presently, private gatherings are limited to four people and cafes and restaurants must close at 9 p.m. Also, department stores and large supermarket franchises must implement the “vaccine pass” system.

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The current social distancing measures will be extended by two more weeks. At present, private gatherings are limited to maximum four people and cafes and restaurants must close by nine p.m. These measures will be kept in place until January 16th, 2022. The government believes that two more weeks of social distancing would substantially contain the spread and that preemptive actions are needed to deal with the omicron variant.

[Soundbite] Kwon Deok-chul(Minister of Health and Welfare) : "We can lessen damage and assess the situation as safe only when there are fewer critical cases. To resume everyday life, we have to prepare for another surge by suppressing the size of spread to a manageable level."

The vaccine pass will now be mandated for department stores and large supermarkets, too. Disease control measures will be toughened at such establishments where large crowds tend to gather. The controversial vaccine pass program for adolescents will be implemented on March 1st at the start of the new school year. However, there will be a one-month guidance period given the vaccination rate among teenagers. Since the strengthened disease control measures have been extended, small and self-employed businesses stand to receive damage compensation first. They will receive five million won first upfront and then settle the sum later when the total compensation amount is finalized. Roughly 550,000 small merchants and self-employed businessmen are expected to apply for this “pay-first, settle-later” compensation program. The government also plans to rearrange the medical response system during the two-week extension. Authorities will make more hospital beds available for about ten-thousand patients per day and speed up the administration of booster shots and vaccination for teenagers.