‘K-Defense’, where there is nothing to be proud of, when more than 1,000 confirmed cases, the third stage is also reviewed

If distance step 2.5 does not work, open the possibility of step 3

Lee Jae-myeong’s suggestion to check Jeong Begyun … 500,000 installations were blocked

K quarantine has changed the logic of ‘examination capacity → few people confirmed’

The biggest crisis in the face of signs of a pandemic …

The number of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus infection (Corona 19) in Korea exceeded 1,000 people a day, facing the biggest crisis. As the situation became urgent, the government quarantine movements also took an emergency, such as when President Moon Jae-in directly held the witness of Corona 19 disaster and security countermeasures headquarters, and Prime Minister Jeong Sye-gyun and others suggested the possibility of reviewing a three-step update. Little by little, the Korean government’s pride in the ‘K quarantine’ model is also being assessed as in crisis.

According to quarantine authorities, 1,030 new confirmed cases of corona19 were registered at 0 am on the 13th, breaking the record for the highest since January 20, when the first corona19 patient occurred. This is 121 people more than 909 people on February 29, when the first pandemic reached its peak, and 80 people more than 950 people the day before. Two days in a row, the record was set.

On the 8th, the social distancing stage in the metropolitan area was updated to 2.5 stages, but there is still no significant effect. Since the number of tests cannot keep up with the growing number of confirmed cases, the confirmation rate has also increased significantly. It is evaluated that infected people who are not captured by the number of confirmed cases are making a hole in the quarantine by inducing transmission from invisible places. The lack of immediate beds due to the rapid increase in new confirmed cases is also a heavy burden on the government.

Consequently, the government opened the possibility of raising the distance to the third stage and began to prepare measures. Prime Minister Chung said at an emergency quarantine countermeasures meeting chaired the previous day at the Seoul Government Complex, “the biggest crisis since the outbreak of Corona 19, and a very urgent emergency fighting the people’s corner.” . It will be done. “Gyeonggi Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myeong, who attended the meeting, also made an official suggestion that” it is necessary to preventively raise the distance between the metropolitan area to three stages. ”

Some experts warned that the situation with 2,000 new confirmed cases a day could come soon, and the status of ‘K-Defense’, of which the government has been proud, is also shaking. ‘K-Defense’ started from the logic that the number of confirmed cases in Asia like China increased, reaching 10,000 cases a day, and there were more confirmed cases than in other countries. The logic was that other countries should not evaluate quarantine performance simply because the number of confirmed patients is large because Korea shows overwhelming capacity in transparency and speed, while other countries have poor or opaque detection capabilities.

Then, as the number of confirmed corona19 cases exceeded 10,000 per day in the United States and Europe, the strength of the ‘K quarantine’ changed to ‘small number of confirmed cases’ instead of mass detection capabilities. While the maximum openness was maintained, producing far fewer confirmed cases than in Western countries became the core of “K-Defense”.

The problem is that the ‘K-Defense’ line of defense has been put in jeopardy due to the emergence of infected people who are now unable to trace the quarantine route. As the number of confirmed cases continued to rise, the strengths that ‘K-Defense’ was proud of were also affected. In fact, if you upgrade to three levels of containment, the quarantine discrimination from other countries is also diluted. In the third stage, more than 500,000 multipurpose facilities, such as wedding halls, cinemas and PC rooms, are closed nationwide, causing enormous social and economic damage, and the self-employed and owners of Small businesses are not icky.

For this reason, the government is known to be approaching the three-stage upgrade very carefully. President Moon Jae-in also decided to convene an emergency meeting of the Security and Disaster Countermeasures Headquarters at 3 p.m. on the same day and directly verify the spread of Corona 19. This is the second time since February that President Moon chairs the script meeting.
/ Reporter Yoon Kyung-hwan [email protected]

< 저작권자 ⓒ 서울경제, 무단 전재 및 재배포 금지 >