Medical Health: Society: News: Hankyoreh

The streets in front of Hongdae, Mapo-gu, Seoul, are showing a busy appearance on the night of the 5th, the first day of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s 30% reduction in public transportation operations after 9 p.m. suspension of shops and markets of more than 300m2 to prevent the spread of Corona 19. On weekends, the streets of Hongdae in Seoul, which were full of young people, are empty with the shop signs off. The government announced on the 6th that to prevent the spread of Corona 19 through periodic information sessions, it has decided to raise social distancing from 0 hours on the 8th to the night of the 28th for 3 weeks in the metropolitan area to 2.5 stages and non-metropolitan areas to stage 2. By Baek So-ah, Staff Reporter [email protected]

To curb the third corona epidemic19, the government will increase the distance between the metropolitan area to 2.5 steps for three weeks from day 8. Step 2.5 is an ultra-high intensity measure that greatly limits social and economic activities afterwards. 9 pm In the non-metropolitan area, the distance increase is applied to two stages in the same period. Prime Minister Jeong Sye-gyun announced on the 6th at a meeting of the Security and Disaster Countermeasures Headquarters he chairs at Seoul City Hall on the 6th, “We are facing the greatest crisis in the fight against Corona 19, which continues for more than 10 months. ” The script judged that “the spread of Corona 19 in the metropolitan area is about to enter a large-scale pandemic and become a national pandemic.” During the last week (Nov. 30-Dec. 6), the average number of home patients per day was 514, which exceeded the average of 400 to 500 patients per day, which is the standard of 2.5 steps. Notably, more than 70% of new patients occur in the metropolitan area, with more than 400 patients occurring every day for the past four days. Previously, in the case of the metropolitan area, the government has increased its distance from November 19 to 1.5 steps, from November 24 to Step 2 and from 1 this month to ‘Step 2 + α (Plus Alpha)’. In the non-metropolitan area, steps 1.5 are being implemented from the first, with the exception of Busan and Gwangju, which have been updated to phase 2. The heavy script was expected to increase the distance since last weekend (6- 7), but the spread has not abated. At 0 o’clock that day, the number of new confirmed cases was 631, and over the weekend, the number of tests decreased by almost 8,000 from the previous day, but increased by 48 from the previous day (583 ). The number of 631 people is the third largest after 909 people on February 29 and 686 on March 2, when the first corona19 epidemic was in full swing. The heavy script set the goal of reducing the number of new confirmed patients per day in the metropolitan area to 150-200 by implementing step 2.5. In a regular briefing on the day, Park Neung-hoo, the company’s first deputy director, said: “Stage 2.5 of the metropolitan area is the last chance to stop a national pandemic. If this does not slow the spread of the infection, the collapse of the medical system may take place. ” By Choi Ha-yan and Kim Yang-jin, Staff Reporter [email protected]