[사회][현장영상] Government “Prohibit private gatherings with more than 5 people, keep until Lunar New Year holidays”

[앵커]

Corona 19 confirmed in Korea came down to 300 people in five days.

However, as there were few inspectors yesterday on Saturday, it is difficult to say that the recent spread has been curtailed.

The government will soon announce a proposal to adjust the distance phase.

As far as the worries about the spread and the realistic demand to release restrictions,

The content to be included in the adjustment plan is more noticeable.

I will connect the briefing site.

[강도태 / 중앙재난안전대책본부 1총괄조정관]

This is the robbery of the 2nd Vice Minister of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the 1st General Coordinator of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters for Corona 19. As of 0 o’clock today, there are 325 domestic patients and 30 foreign patients. Six patients died yesterday. I wish the deceased people’s blessings and condolences and condolences to the bereaved families.

First, let me tell you how to adjust social distancing. Meanwhile, the government has endeavored to reflect various opinions on social distancing as much as possible. Various opinions were collected through several meetings in which each ministry, local government, and external experts participated.

Based on this, we decided on a plan to adjust social distancing through today’s script meeting. In conclusion, the government decided to maintain the current distancing stage and major quarantine measures for the next two weeks.

The ban on private gatherings with more than 5 people is maintained until the Lunar New Year holidays. However, considering the difficulty in determining the current outbreak situation, we plan to reconsider whether or not to ease the quarantine rules for multi-use facilities by judging the trend of patient occurrence and the risk of re-proliferation a week later.

The government has been discussing to downgrade the distancing stage according to the steadily decreasing number of patients below the 2.5 stage standard and the third epidemic gradually being controlled.

However, as the number of patients has increased again since last week, the epidemic is showing a tendency to respread. The average number of patients per day this week is 418, which is an increase from 365 last week, corresponding to the 2.5 step distance criteria.

Excluding large-scale group infections related to IM Mission, the number of patients is on the rise. In addition to churches and medical institutions, group infections are increasing in multi-use facilities such as saunas, screen golf courses, and taekwondo courses.

The weekly infectious material production index also fell to 0.79 three weeks ago and is rising again to 0.95 last week. It is difficult to judge whether this trend is only a temporary increase or a transition to a phase in which the third outbreak is re-proliferating.

But now is the moment when you can’t relax. In addition, the possibility of the spread of infection due to the Lunar New Year holidays is a concern. During the Lunar New Year holidays, there is a high likelihood that there will be an increase in travel to other regions, travel, and gatherings, and there is also a risk that the third epidemic will rapidly re-spread.

This Lunar New Year holiday is located at a time when 400 patients a day, which is more than the last Chuseok holiday, is occurring, so the risk is higher. Despite these risks, the difficulty of small business owners and the increasing fatigue of the people due to the prolonged distance distancing was a worrisome part until the end.

Special quarantine measures have been continuously added during the year-end and New Year holidays since the increase in distance in December. Small business owners are complaining about the difficulties in their livelihoods due to continued restrictions on operations and bans on gatherings, and they are concerned that the level of participation in the public will not drop.

However, after much consideration and discussion, we concluded that now is the time to empower quarantine. This is because if tension is relaxed here and a full-scale re-proliferation begins, the aftermath is difficult to imagine.

Still, the number of patients in the 400 range continues to develop nationwide. If this happens, there is a risk of spreading into a pandemic that causes thousands of patients in a short time.

We sincerely regret and regret to the many self-employed people and the people who are struggling with distance, but we urge you to cooperate to overcome this crisis a little more.

Next, we will explain the social distancing adjustment plan that will be applied from tomorrow. Currently, major quarantine measures, such as the national distance stage and restrictions on operating hours for some industries, will be maintained for the next two weeks.

However, the situation will be judged once more a week later, and we will review whether to adjust the quarantine measures in consideration of the trend of patient occurrence and the risk of re-proliferation.

In particular, starting this week, the quarantine authorities and related ministries will meet with various associations and organizations to discuss how to prepare quarantine regulations. This is to come up with a plan to ease the ban on gatherings and business restrictions while complying with strict quarantine rules.

The ban on private meetings with more than 5 people will be extended for 2 weeks until the Lunar New Year holidays. Even direct family members cannot hold meetings with more than 5 people in different places of residence. This applies even during the Lunar New Year holidays without exception.

For the safety of our families and neighbors, we also ask that the people refrain from returning home and traveling this New Year, and to share their regards in a non-face-to-face manner. Special quarantine measures for the Lunar New Year holidays will also be implemented as previously announced.

Food and beverages are not allowed at highway rest areas, trains only allow window seats to be booked, and accommodation can accommodate only two-thirds of all rooms. We will further strengthen quarantine measures for facilities with high risk of group infection and high risk.

In religious facilities, accommodation, meals, and meetings, except for regular worship services, are prohibited from now on. Members of the church are urged to follow the quarantine rules by example.

Unauthorized alternative educational facilities will be continuously managed through administrative orders and on-site inspections. In vulnerable facilities such as nursing homes and nursing hospitals, we will periodically conduct PCR tests on workers and caregivers.

In some multi-use facilities, the areas where special measures strengthened from step 2.5 were applied will be adjusted at this time. Seats in concert halls and cinemas are changed from individual to companion, and shower rooms in indoor sports facilities are allowed. For more information, please refer to the press release.

We are well aware that people are complaining of many difficulties through long social distancing. However, it is a dangerous situation that it is difficult to determine whether the third epidemic, which had been stably decreasing, is re-proliferating. The risk of spreading the outbreak due to the Lunar New Year holiday should also be considered.

Only by stably reducing the tertiary epidemic by this winter can the vaccination start smoothly and our daily routine can be restored in stages. Considering these points, it is necessary to carefully ease quarantine measures in the current situation. I urge the citizens, small business owners, and self-employed people who are in great difficulty to understand and cooperate with this situation.

If this increase in the number of patients is only temporary and the situation improves this week, the government will also consider easing quarantine measures positively.
I hope that all the people will take the lead in putting a little more effort into the practice of distancing so that this can happen. The government will do everything in its power to reinforce quarantine management so that the third epidemic decreases again. Thank you.

[사회자]

From now on, we will have a Q&A time. Distributors, please come up on the platform. Due to the following schedule, the 2nd Vice Minister Gang-tae will answer within 2 questions and then dissent, and the rest of the inquiries will be answered by the attendees.

Briefings are being conducted non-face-to-face due to social distancing measures. It is conducted in the form of answering the questions sent by reporters online. For inquiries about specific statistics, please contact the media response team. I’ll ask you a question.

This is the first preliminary inquiry sent by the Ministry of Health and Welfare Access Reporters. If you give an example of what was the sharpest confrontation in this distancing discussion process, he said that business suspension after 21:00 or the ban on private meetings with more than 5 people could be examples, and the final decision was made in the script. What was the most important basis for your judgment or statistics when you made it?

[강도태 / 중앙재난안전대책본부 1총괄조정관]

As the distance between them prolonged, the economic difficulties of small businesses and self-employed people were increasing, and the fatigue of the people was also increasing.

However, as the number of patients is changing to an increasing trend now, they are not meeting the criteria for adjusting the distance level. Also, after the infectious reproduction index decreased to 0.79, it has risen to 0.95 for two consecutive weeks. It is difficult to alleviate the current quarantine stage when considering the high risk of spreading infection due to the Lunar New Year holidays.

I made my judgment like this. However, regarding the quarantine rules for small business owners and self-employed persons, we plan to re-evaluate the quarantine rules after one week after seeing the trend, and we plan to prepare the quarantine rules by actively communicating with related associations and organizations.

I sincerely regret and apologize for many of those who are struggling with their livelihoods because they cannot adjust the social distancing level at this time. Once again, we ask that you actively cooperate in complying with the quarantine regulations.