When the number of new nCov infections increased for two consecutive weeks and reached the highest level in the past 6 months, the majority of Koreans wanted the government to implement the strictest social distancing measures.
But President Moon Jae-in and the group of public health experts behind the success of the first Covid-19 response did not agree with the above proposal.
The debate between the two sides revolves around the issue of whether South Korea should apply the strictest restrictive measures to prevent a new outbreak, with about 3,600 cases recorded from August 12 to present, the number
President Moon’s administration said it does not want to impose the highest level of restrictions due to fear of the risk of harm to the national economy.
During the first outbreak, South Korea’s Covid-19 strategy mainly relied on people’s voluntary wearing of masks and limited going out, along with widespread testing and rapid contact tracing.
But now, the country is faced with two options: impose a quasi-blockade or miss the opportunity to completely eliminate the risk of a prolonged outbreak.
Medical staff measure their own body temperature to prepare to take Covid-19 test samples in Seoul on August 26.
Level three social distancing, the highest level in the three-level system set in June, is a measure that the Korean government has never applied to deal with Covid-19.
`Our daily lives will stop, businesses will collapse and we will have to endure huge economic losses,` President Moon said about the impact of level three social distancing measures at the meeting.
Korean health officials have implemented level two social distancing nationwide, requiring the closure of high-risk locations such as nightclubs and banning gatherings of more than 100 people.
This criterion was met today, after South Korea recorded 441 new infections, including 434 cases of community transmission, and one death due to Covid-19 in the past 24 hours.
Most Koreans want President Moon to act decisively.
The United Future Party, the main conservative opposition group in South Korea, has criticized President Moon’s administration for being too slow in responding to Covid-19.
`It is the government that creates conditions for people to be careless,` opposition lawmaker Kim Ye-ji said during a hearing on August 25.
On August 23, the Korean Infectious Diseases Association also called for the immediate implementation of the highest restrictive measures, citing that many medical and hospital workers are under great pressure due to the sharp increase in the number of infections.
South Korea’s level three social distancing is different from the mandatory blockade that most countries have applied.
Current level two social distancing measures limit indoor gatherings to no more than 50 people and outdoor gatherings to no more than 100 people.
The Covid-19 response team advises the Moon administration on its divided national social distancing strategy, according to Kwon Soon-man, a professor at Seoul National University’s School of Public Health and a member of the committee.
`The number of infections will continue to fluctuate as long as we have to live with nCoV. We cannot expect to completely prevent new infections without causing serious impacts on the socio-economy