Sport to restart in South Korea as new cases drop to single digits

SOUTH KOREA has given the go-ahead for the return of sporting fixtures after the government reported just eight new Covid-19 infections, the lowest in two months.

Chung Sye-kyun, the prime minister, extended social distancing measures for 16 days but said church gatherings could resume, while sports such as professional baseball would be allowed to be played behind closed doors without an audience.

“It is safest to maintain the intensive social distancing, but it isn’t easy realistically. We need to find a middle ground,” Mr Chung told a televised meeting of government officials.

“If we can maintain a stable management at the current level, we will shift to routine social distancing.”

Health authorities had said that such an approach would allow a reopening of the economy, while maintaining guidelines on disinfection and preventing the spread of the virus in people’s daily lives.

Last month, South Korea issued an administrative order strongly recommending that religious organisations, indoor sports facilities and entertainment establishments, such as night- clubs, should close to the public.

The government has now softened its language, however, allowing such facilities to resume operations as long as they follow disinfection guidelines. “The government will evaluate the degree of risk every two weeks and readjust the level of social distancing when necessary,” Park Neung-hoo, the health minister, said.

It was the first time since Feb 18 that South Korea – which has recorded 10,661 cases in total – reported a single digit daily rise. The death toll is 234.

Of the new cases, five came from overseas, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said.

South Korea has largely managed to bring the coronavirus outbreak under control and had recently been reporting around 20 new cases per day.

Officials called the trend good news but issued a note of caution about overly optimistic predictions.

“We are continuously on the alert to ensure we haven’t missed any new infections, or whether the epidemic could be spread by asymptomatic or mildly infected patients,” Jeong Eunkyeong, the KCDC chief, said.

Moon Jae-in, the president, said the progress of his country offered hope that the pandemic was “surmountable” in other parts of the world.