(LEAD) govt-social distancing
(LEAD) Current distancing rules to be extended for 2 more weeks: PM
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SEOUL, Dec. 31 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will extend toughened social distancing rules for two more weeks through mid-January, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Friday, amid efforts to bring down the number of serious coronavirus cases and contain the omicron variant.
"It is too early to think that we have overcome the crisis," Kim said during a COVID-19 response meeting in Seoul. "We still have a lot of critically ill virus patients and deaths."
The government has been enforcing stricter social distancing rules since Dec. 18 following a surge in COVID-19 cases.
Currently, private gatherings are capped at four people nationwide, while 9 or 10 p.m. curfews are imposed on multiuse facilities' business hours.
The restrictions were originally supposed to end Sunday, but with the latest decision, they will be enforced through Jan. 16.
After imposing the tightened virus curbs and encouraging booster shots, Kim said the country's virus situation is improving. Recently, daily virus cases have been hovering around 5,000 after reaching above 7,000.
However, Kim warned against complacency as the government still has to work hard to secure more hospital beds to handle 10,000 patients a day and needs to be fully prepared before the highly transmissible omicron variant spreads quickly across the nation.
"If the virus situation gets stabilized after we show our civic consciousness a little more for two weeks, the government will actively consider relaxing virus curbs," Kim said.
The toughened rules caused a setback to the government's "living with COVID-19" scheme that targets people's gradual return to normal life, and caused a strong backlash from small merchants and self-employed people.
To ease their suffering, Kim said the government decided to provide COVID-19 damage compensation for the first quarter in advance. Some 550,000 self-employed people will receive 5 million won (US$4,200) each first, with the actual calculations of their financial damage and related compensation to be conducted later.
Regarding the government's COVID-19 vaccine pass system for youths, Kim said it will be adopted in March with a one-month grace period.
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