Seoul eases Covid restrictions with daily cases at record high of over 100,000

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A medical employee (C) takes a nasal swab pattern from a person at a Covid-19 coronavirus testing centre in Seoul on February 18, 2022, after South Korea’s every day Covid-19 caseload crossed 100,000 for the primary time. (Photograph by Jung Yeon-je / AFP)

SEOUL, South Korea (AFP) — South Korea mentioned it might ease pandemic restrictions Friday, even because the nation’s every day caseload crossed 100,000 for the primary time, with officers citing financial issues over social distancing measures.

The nation reported a document 109,831 new infections for Thursday, with well being consultants warning this quantity might rise to 270,000 new instances a day subsequent month.

Regardless of the spike in instances, Seoul officers mentioned they’d ease restrictions by permitting cafes and eating places to remain open an additional hour until 10 pm beginning Saturday.

“Contemplating the deepening difficulties of the individuals’s livelihood and financial system, we have now concluded that the minimal adjustment was inevitable,” Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum mentioned.

The nation will even drop its requirement that companies together with eating places and cafes preserve handwritten customer logs to permit for contact tracing, officers mentioned.

The overwhelming majority of South Korea’s eligible inhabitants has been vaccinated and boosted, and regardless of the document variety of infections within the nation of 52 million individuals, dying charges stay very low.

“We’re specializing in high-risk teams in relation to epidemiological investigation and call tracing administration,” mentioned Lee Ki-il, a well being ministry official.

“In depth contact investigation is now proving to be considerably ineffective,” they added.

Seoul deserted its vaunted “hint, check and deal with” programme earlier this month, as a dramatic surge in Omicron instances threatened to overwhelm its healthcare system.

As an alternative of mass testing and aggressive contact tracing, the federal government is now asking sufferers with gentle or average signs to take care of themselves at house.

Authorities are additionally prioritising PCR testing for individuals aged 60 or older.

The federal government has been going through sturdy backlash from small companies and self-employed Koreans, who say Covid restrictions — together with the necessary 9 pm curfew — have been pushing their companies to the brink.

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