South Korea to increase Covid-19 curbs
South Korea will extend its sociable distancing curbs by fourteen days until the end of the Lunar New Year holidays seeing that new COVID-19 an infection clusters emerge found in the country, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said on Sunday.
The announcement dashed earlier expectations that the federal government would ease the guidelines from the existing highest levels, such as a restaurant curfew and a ban on gatherings of more than four people and also have been in place since early December. But health authorities decided to keep up with the curbs after a fresh large outbreak emerged from missionary training schools across the country last week, reversing a recently available downtrend in daily infections prior to the Lunar New Year break, which begins on Feb. 11.
"The government is likely to extend the existing distancing amounts and anti-virus standards because they are before Lunar New Year holidays end," Chung told an intra-agency getting together with."The 3rd COVID-19 wave, which had temporarily slowed, is once again threatening our day to day lives following a group infections from the missionary institutes."
Based on the decision, indoor cafe and restaurant dining after 9 p.m. and any gatherings greater than four persons - two key measures that have proved effective - will continue to be prohibited.Vice Wellbeing Minister Kang Do-tae said the virus was spreading not merely among the missionary schools, to which 379 situations have been linked so far, but as well at churches, hospitals and sports facilities.
"You will find a danger that it might result in a broader re-pass on of the virus, and potentially another key wave where a large number of people emerge within a short while," Kang told a briefing.But the federal government will "positively consider" easing the curbs, like the eating curfew, if the problem increases this week.Chung said the ongoing pass on should be further dampened to facilitate South Korea's vaccination advertising campaign and the beginning of the spring university semester, which are respectively place for February and March.
About 117,000 doses of vaccines of Pfizer Inc, enough for approximately 60,000 people, will arrive as soon as mid-February via the global distribution scheme COVAX, Chung said.AstraZeneca may also ship its products for approximately 300,000 people beginning February, also through COVAX, as the first batch of its shipment of vaccines for at least 1.3 million persons or more to 2.19 million in the first half of this year, he added.The Korea Disease Control and Avoidance Agency (KDCA) reported 355 new cases as of Saturday midnight, as the numbers fell under 400 for the very first time in five times due in part to less testing through the weekend.
