[정치][현장영상] Prime Minister Chung “Watch the situation this week and review additional quarantine mitigation measures”

[앵커]

The Corona 19 Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters meeting is currently being held at the Seoul Government Complex, presided over by Prime Minister Jeong Sye-gyun.

Let’s listen to all the comments of Prime Minister Chung’s meeting a while ago.

[정세균 / 국무총리]

It is the first day of February. Many people would have hoped that their daily life would recover a little in the new month, but the momentum of Corona 19, which is not easily broken, has extended the existing distance stage for two weeks again.

As the winter of hardships prolongs, voices of complaints of suffering are getting louder in the public economy. This is the point in which the government has been compelled to repeatedly struggle with distress when deciding to extend the distance step.

If we observe the situation this week and believe that we are in a certain stable state, we will closely review the easing of additional quarantine measures even before the Lunar New Year holidays.

I plead once again to the self-employed and small business owners who are enduring day by day with a desperate heart. Please trust the government, be patient and cooperate with quarantine.

The government will do its best to fight COVID-19 well in order to stabilize people’s livelihood and accelerate daily recovery. In the future, when vaccination becomes full-fledged, our quarantine strategy in response to COVID-19 needs to be changed.

In order to immunize the entire population, medical resources must be efficiently allocated. Sustainable quarantine is essential to form collective immunity in a stable situation. Accordingly, it is necessary to prepare in advance for reorganization of social distancing based on autonomy and responsibility.

During the preparation process, the opinions of various fields should be listened to and the voices of the self-employed and small business owners who are suffering the most now should be fully reflected.

In addition to the relevant ministries, I would like you to actively communicate with related associations and organizations from now on, and start preparing a quarantine strategy that has high national acceptance and can sufficiently ensure implementation in the field.

One of the factors that has been able to successfully respond to Corona 19 in Korea so far is that it was able to detect confirmed patients early through rapid diagnostic tests.

Our diagnostic test capacity was expanded from 20,000 cases a day in February of last year, the beginning of Corona 19, to a maximum of 200,000 cases a day last month. Over the past month and a half, over 4,500 hidden radiographers were found through a temporary screening and inspection station established based on expanded inspection capabilities.

Several local governments across the country are attempting preemptive inspections in various ways. However, over the last 1 week, 33% of cases were infected by contact with confirmed patients, and over 21% of cases were difficult to know.

Now, I think it is necessary to make the most of the increased testing capabilities and create a more convenient and quicker diagnostic test environment for the public.

Bang Dae-bon is requested to comprehensively evaluate the performance of the temporary screening inspection center, the experience of preemptive inspection of vulnerable facilities, and the inspection cases of local government resources, and review creative alternatives that can more effectively find hidden propagators. Thank you.

[저작권자(c) YTN & YTN plus 무단전재 및 재배포 금지]