When the way home is blocked, go to a tourist spot or a ski resort… New Year’s holiday’blinking confirmed cases’ may increase

Input 2021.02.10 10:00

“Since it’s a family of 4, if you go home to see your parents, it’s banned from meetings with more than 5 people, and it’s the same even if you go to your wife’s house. If you’re at home during the holiday season, you’ll only accumulate housework.

Choi, 38, who lives in Mapo-gu, Seoul, said he plans to go on a family trip to Gangwon-do during the Lunar New Year holidays. Choi said, “In order to observe the quarantine rules, I will go to the hotel and have a rest right away without stopping by the rest area,” he said. “I don’t think there will be a big problem if we go without outside contact without more than 5 people.”

Ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, which starts on the 11th, family gatherings of five or more people were banned due to quarantine measures, but there are concerns that it could be a fire of a collective infection of the coronavirus as people are expected to flock to tourist sites and ski resorts.

According to the Korea Airports Corporation on the 9th, the number of domestic passengers from the 10th to the 14th is expected to reach 840,000. It is expected that users will be concentrated on the 10th and the last day of the holiday season. Although the figure has decreased from last year’s Lunar New Year holiday, there is great concern as the spread of the corona still remains and the threat of a mutant virus is present. During this period, the number of international passengers is expected to reach 32,147.

Jeju Island, which barely stopped the group infection in December of last year, is expected to attract tourists again during the Lunar New Year holiday, and the atmosphere is filled with tension again. According to Jeju Island, 143,000 tourists and returnees are expected to visit Jeju for five days from the 10th to the 14th, the day before the Lunar New Year holiday. Although it decreased by 32.5% from last year, reservations are concentrated mainly on luxury hotels, golf courses and golftels. The airline predicted an average flight rate of 69% this holiday season.

As the ski resort can be operated during the late-night time, the number of users visiting the ski resort is expected to increase significantly. This is because, as the government eased ski resort quarantine measures, it became possible to operate ski resorts in the early morning hours from the 5th. In fact, on the 7th, at a ski resort in Pyeongchang, passengers lined up to use the lift.

Reservations were also quickly filled for touristic accommodations near Gangwon-do. Seorak Hanwha Resort, which has 765 rooms, is known to be 100% booked on February 11-12, and 90% on the 13th.

The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters decided to extend the social distancing (Seoul Metropolitan Area 2.5 Stage, Non-Metropolitan Area Stage 2), which is being implemented nationwide, until the 14th, including the Lunar New Year holidays.

As a result of this measure, the ban on private gatherings with more than 5 people makes it difficult for relatives to meet with relatives during the Lunar New Year holiday, and the return process is expected to decrease significantly. Big. In particular, there is a possibility that the number of new confirmed cases, which has barely declined, will increase again if there are’blinking’ confirmed cases in which the infection route and source of infection are not confirmed at certain tourist sites and ski resorts.

The government plans to operate national highway tolls for three days from the 11th to the 13th for a fee in order to reduce the amount of travel slightly during the Lunar New Year holidays. Expressway tolls were usually free during the holiday season, but following Chuseok last year, this year’s Lunar New Year will be converted to a fee to strengthen quarantine.

Prime Minister Jeong Sye-gyun said on the 9th, “The momentum of the third coronavirus epidemic seems to have slowed down, but it is still too early to conclude with a stabilization and the situation has not improved significantly when looking at the metropolitan area.” did.