South Korea eases social distancing curbs
South Korea will relax some rules on social distancing from Monday, allowing nightspots to re-open and spectators to attend sports events, after new coronavirus cases edged lower in recent weeks, authorities said. Daily infections have fallen largely into the doubledigit range in the past two weeks, down from 440 during outbreaks at a church and a political rally in August that prompted clampdowns on gatherings and some businesses.
"We will lower the level of social distancing nationwide but maintain controls on risk factors such as the door-to-door sales industry," Prime
Minister Chung Sye-kyun told a meeting on Sunday. "Many citizens are feeling fatigue over prolonged distancing, and we also took its negative impact on the economy into consideration."
The relaxation means places of entertainment, such as nightclubs, karaoke bars and buffets can re-open, and audiences of up to 30% of stadium capacity will be allowed at sports matches such as the popular Korea Baseball Organization League, as long as they comply with anti-virus guidelines. But high-risk activities such as door-to-door sales businesses and small religious gatherings remain banned, with new limits on guests and spacing at nightspots and indoor sport venues in the heavily populated Seoul area, the government said.
Health Minister Park Neung-hoo warned against complacency, saying the country still faced the dangers of what he called a "twindemic" of the virus and a winter seasonal flu. "We all know from past experiences that any slight carelessness could lead to another large-scale spread of the virus," he told a separate briefing.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency reported 58 cases by midnight on Saturday, taking total infections to 24,606, with 432 deaths. Of the new cases, 46 were domestically transmitted, most of them in the greater Seoul region, where small clusters continue to emerge from churches, door-to-door sales firms and medical institutions.
Meanwhile, The Indonesian
capital
of
Jakarta will kick off a two-week "transitional" period of eased coronavirus curbs from Monday after the pace of infections slowed over the last two weeks, Governor Anies Baswedan said. The city of about 11 million in southeast Asia's largest economy re-imposed tougher social restrictions from mid-September, after a spurt in virus infections put stress on its health services. "We need to emphasise that discipline must remain high so that the chain of transmission remains under control and we don't have to do an emergency brake again," Baswedan said in a statement on Sunday.
The new measures allow non-essential businesses to work from offices, but making use only of half their capacity, while dine-in customers at restaurants are also limited to 50% of capacity. Parks and museums will start opening with some curbs, while all businesses have to follow a strict hygiene protocol and keep data on their visitors for contact tracing purposes.
Baswedan added that the easing comes after a fall in the numbers testing positive for the virus as patients in Jakarta's intensive care units (ICUs) thinned out, with occupancy rates dropping to 67% by Saturday, from 83% on Sept. 13. Indonesia's nationwide tally stood at 328,952 infections, with 11,765 deaths by Saturday, with Jakarta accounting for 85,617 cases and 1,877 deaths. Meanwhile, Indonesia reported 4,497 new coronavirus infections and 79 new deaths on Sunday, the lowest daily fatality count since Sept. 27, data from the country's Health Ministry website showed.