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| A street in Seoul's popular tourist district of Myeong-dong remains almost empty, Sunday, amid a surge in coronavirus cases in the country. Yonhap |
By Bahk Eun-ji
Sauna and indoor sports facilities will be shut down in Seoul and surrounding areas starting Tuesday, following toughened social distancing regulations in the fight against COVID-19, the health authorities said, Sunday.
However, they decided not to raise the social distancing level in the area to 2.5 from the current 2. Other parts of the country will have their levels raised to 1.5, and each municipality can raise its own to 2 if necessary.
The decision has come amid deepening concerns of COVID-19's rapid spread here, especially ahead of the state-run college entrance exam which over 493,400 students across the country will take on Thursday.
The new rules will be applied from Tuesday to Saturday in the Seoul metropolitan area, and until Dec. 14 in other provinces, and may continue longer or be ended early according to how the situation develops, they said.
According to the new regulations, community facilities at apartments, such as gyms and saunas, will be shut down. Indoor gyms are currently closed after 9 p.m., but from Tuesday, group exercises programs such as Zumba, spinning, kickboxing and aerobics will be prohibited.
In addition, wind instruments and singing lessons at private institutions and community centers will also be banned, considering that there is a high possibility of spreading the virus through droplets during lessons and it is difficult for students and instructors to wear masks. However, considering the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) is scheduled this week, teaching for test takers preparing for performance exams will be excluded from the ban.
Hotels, guest houses, party rooms and other places where people can have private parties will be banned from offering such party venues for the year-end season.
The level is set at 1.5 to 2 when regional infections take place, and could go up to 2.5 in case of nationwide infections when 400-500 daily new cases are confirmed across the country, or to Level 3 when there are 800-1,000 daily new cases.
The greater Seoul area saw the level raised to 2 on Nov. 24 and Jeolla, South Gyeongsang and Gangwon provinces as well as Busan have been at Level 1.5.
Health authorities have faced growing pressure to toughen the social distancing rules as the country's daily new virus cases stayed in the triple digits over the month due to continuous sporadic infections nationwide.
According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), Sunday, there were 450 new coronavirus infections reported for Saturday, including 413 local cases, raising the total caseload to 33,824. The number of daily new cases fell back under 500 for the first time in four days mainly due to fewer tests carried out over the weekend compared with weekdays. One additional death was reported, bringing the total to 523.
"We are maintaining Level 2 (in the greater Seoul area) but applying stricter rules for specific facilities, such as sauna and group exercise places," Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said while announcing the enhanced measures at a press briefing at the Seoul Government Complex. "We've decided not to raise the level as a whole but to take tailored quarantine measures according to each situation, to minimize damage to people's daily lives but attain the effects of quarantine at the same time."
The authorities are making efforts to curb the virus spread especially ahead of the CSAT, scheduled for Thursday. On Nov. 19, the education authorities launched a special quarantine period for two weeks to reduce the possibility of virus infections among the students who will take the test.
However, with only four days left before the CSAT, a series of virus cases among students at large cram schools in Daechi-dong and Mok-dong, two major districts where private institutes are gathered in Seoul, are raising concerns.
According to Gangnam-gu Office, one student tested positive on Friday. The student, who is scheduled to take the CSAT, was tested after a family member was confirmed as an asymptomatic patient on Nov. 26. The student is a resident of Bundang in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, and the rest of his family members also tested positive.
The health authorities conducted an epidemiological investigation, and carried out the virus tests for the 85 students and three instructors at the private cram school.
The cram school advised students to study at home.
