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SEOUL: South Korea will extend its social distancing restrictions by two weeks until the end of the Chinese New Year holiday as new clusters of infections emerge in the country, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said on Sunday (Jan.31). ).
The announcement frustrated previous expectations that the government would ease the current higher level rules, which include a restaurant curfew and a ban on gatherings of more than four people and have been in effect since early December.
But health authorities decided to maintain the restrictions after a new major outbreak emerged in missionary training schools across the country last week, reversing a recent downward trend in daily infections ahead of the Chinese New Year holidays. which begins on February 11.
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“The government is planning to extend the current distancing levels and antivirus standards until the end of the Lunar New Year holidays,” Chung told an intra-agency meeting.
“The third wave of COVID-19, which had temporarily slowed down, is again threatening our daily lives after group infections from missionary institutes.”
According to the decision, meals in cafes and restaurants inside will continue to be prohibited after 9:00 p.m. and any gathering of more than four people, two key measures that have proven to be effective.
Chung said the ongoing spread should be further reduced to facilitate South Korea’s vaccination campaign and the start of the spring school semester, which are scheduled for February and March respectively.
“This decision was not easy,” Chung said.
About 117,000 doses of Pfizer vaccines, enough for about 60,000 people, will arrive in mid-February through the COVAX global distribution scheme, Chung said.
COMMENT: Is South Korea doing enough to tackle its new wave of COVID-19?
AstraZeneca will also ship its products to some 300,000 people starting in February, also through COVAX, as the first batch of its shipment of vaccines for at least 1.3 million and up to 2.19 million in the first half of this year, it added. .
The Korea Disease Prevention and Control Agency (KDCA) reported 355 new cases as of midnight Saturday, as the numbers fell below 400 for the first time in five days due in part to fewer tests over the weekend.
The mission school outbreak grew even further, with a total of 379 people infected, KDCA data showed.
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