Seoul, Nov 30, : , President Moon Jae In has stated that the government will stop any further relaxation of social distancing rules in light of spiking Covid-19 infection rates.It will also accelerate the administration of booster shots and ensure more hospital beds for the next four weeks. Moon made the remarks Monday while presidering over a Covid response meeting.He stated that the government would not end its first-phase measures to return to normalcy despite an increase in serious infections and concerns about the micron variant.
Moon stated that hospital beds are in short supply because of the increasing number of critically ill patients and new patients.”But, we cannot go back to the past and reverse the gradual return to normal living.
After the government launched its first phase of the “living With Covid-19” scheme, South Korea saw a sharp rise in coronavirus infections per day.
Daily infections were hovering around 2,000 in October, before some social distancing rules were relaxed.Daily infections rose to around 4,000 last week.A worrying development was that the number of critically ill patients reached an all-time high at 629 on Friday.
This is despite growing concerns about a shortage in hospital beds.
After four weeks of the first phase of distancing rules being relaxed, South Korea originally planned to relax the virus restrictions in December.
The government decided against further relaxation of the rules because of the rising number of serious cases.
Moon stated that the government will instead implement “special containment” measures over the next four week.
Moon stated that the government would quickly administer booster shots and make more efforts to secure enough beds for Covid-19 patients in intensive care.
Moon encouraged more people to get booster shots.”A third shot should not be considered an additional shot, but a basic shot.” He said that people need to change how they view vaccination.”A third shot is not an additional shot, but a basic shot.This will complete the inoculation.”
Moon also demanded that health authorities increase vaccination rates for teenagers aged 12-17 years old and quickly introduce an oral antiviral treatment to Covid by the end this year.South Korea plans to introduce Covid-19 treatment pills in February 2012.
South Korea has restricted visa issuance and arrivals to eight African countries, including South Africa, starting Sunday.This was done to stop the inflow of the Covid-19 strain called Omicron.
It joins a host of countries that have imposed travel bans to and from the African region.
Moon directed health officials to take strict measures to stop the omicron variant spreading to South Korea.
The World Health Organisation (WHO), has declared the omicron variant, which was first identified in South Africa by scientists just days ago, a “variant to concern.”
While it will take some time to determine the severity of the new strain of omicron, the WHO suggested that the variant poses an “increased chance of reinfection”.
int/dpb #SKorea #rules #Covid
.
