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SEOUL: The South Korean government stepped up its efforts to end a strike by thousands of the country’s doctors on Friday (August 28), when Seoul took the unprecedented step to restrict restaurants in the capital in a bid to mitigate an increase in coronavirus cases.
The Health Ministry issued a return to work order for doctors across the country and filed a complaint with the police against at least 10 doctors who it said failed to comply with an order that has been in effect in Seoul since Wednesday.
The escalation in the dispute between doctors and the government comes as South Korean officials grapple with a new wave of COVID-19 infections.
The Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported 371 new cases of coronavirus as of midnight Thursday, bringing the country’s total to 19,077, including 316 deaths.
KCDC Director Jeong Eun-kyeong cautioned that models indicate that if the outbreak is not contained, cases could increase to 2,000 per day.
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DOCTORS ON STRIKE
Nearly 16,000 interns and residents have been on strike since Aug. 21 over the government’s plans to increase the number of doctors in the country over the next decade, which it said is necessary to better prepare for public health crises.
However, medical students argued that it would be better to spend additional funds improving the salaries of existing apprentices and addressing systemic problems.
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“We strongly denounce the government for filing a complaint on criminal charges in just one day for refusing to comply with the order,” said Choi Dae-zip, president of the Korean Medical Association, at a press conference outside a police station in Seoul
Thousands of teaching hospital doctors, doctors-in-training and private practice doctors went on a three-day strike on Wednesday to express their solidarity with interns and residents.
Interns and residents form the backbone of health care services in key places like emergency rooms and intensive care units, and major hospitals have reported delays and interruptions since the strike. The striking doctors have volunteered their services at temporary testing centers to help with the outbreak.
Public opinion on the high-profile strike and the government’s response has been mixed according to recent polls.
“I also understand doctors, but now is not the time,” Lim Soon-ja, 71, a thyroid cancer patient, told Reuters in front of Seoul National University Hospital. “I would like your views to be expressed once the outbreak is resolved.”
SEOUL RESTRICTIONS
Authorities further restricted movement in the Seoul metropolitan area, the center of the new outbreak, on Friday.
Cafeterias, some of which have been identified as hotspots in the outbreak, are restricted to take-out and delivery services. Restaurants, coffee shops and bakeries cannot offer on-site dining between 9:00 p.m. M. And 5:00 a. M. Measurements will last at least one week.
Earlier this week, Seoul officials ordered the closure of most schools in the capital and surrounding areas.
Seoul has also ordered masks to be worn in indoor and outdoor public places, and has ordered places such as churches, nightclubs, karaoke bars and other high-risk venues to be closed.
Instead, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said the government will extend the current Phase 2 social distancing, which was due to expire this weekend, for at least another week.
“Phase 3 social distancing is the choice of last resort given the economic and social domino effect,” Chung said at a government meeting.
After using aggressive tracing and testing to contain a large outbreak earlier this year, South Korea suffered a setback this month after a group of churches spread out at a political rally.
Health authorities had re-enforced the Phase 2 social distancing rules on August 16 in the Seoul metropolitan area, expanding the measures nationwide last week.
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