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Young South Korean lines up outside a nightlife establishment in Seoul’s Hongdae area on Apr. 12. (Kang Jae-gu, staff photographer)

The South Korean government announced plans to retool the holiday system by amending related laws and enacting measures to support people taking three to four days off when sick. These new measures would qualify as a form of "daily disease prevention” to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus and other infectious diseases. Disease control authorities also expressed concerns about the possibility of "superspreading” at nightlife establishments and called on younger people in their 20s to participate in social distancing.

"We need to rework the holiday system to allow people to spend three to four days at home when they're sick, or to introduce measures for compensation pay during leave,” said Minister of Health and Welfare Park Neung-hoo, first deputy director of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (CDSCHQ). He went on to announce plans to "institutionalize [these measures] as quickly as possible through discussions among related ministries and necessary amendments to the law.” One of the chief features of the government’s draft of 31 detailed guidelines for daily disease prevention released on Apr. 24, the guideline of "taking off from work when sick” has been seen as difficult for people to observe on their own initiative without the amendment of related laws or allocation of a budget.

Disease control authorities and the Committee for Disease Prevention in Daily Life have reportedly considered institutional measures of different levels of aggressiveness -- ranging from expansion and supplementation of the existing holiday system to the institution of compensation for illness and injury, but the specific approach has yet to be finalized.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) recorded 10 new cases for Apr. 27, marking the 10th straight day with a total of roughly 10 new cases since the number fell to 18 on Apr. 18. Nine of the 10 new cases were imported from overseas. The cumulative total of cases stands at 10,728.

But disease control authorities sounded the alarm after reports that a teenage male who was diagnosed with the virus in Daegu on Apr. 23 had visited a club, bar, sashimi restaurant, and other locations in Busan on Apr. 17-18 and come in contact with 123 people, with 107 of them now in self-isolation. Persons in their 20s represented 2,940 of diagnosed patients as of Apr. 26, making up the largest age group -- 27.4% -- among the cumulative total of 10,728 patients diagnosed to date.

"There are serious concerns that densely populated and poorly ventilated environments like nightlife establishments could lead to instances of 'superspreading,'” said KCDC Director Jung Eun-kyeong.

"Through May 5, we need to maintain social distancing and assume that we too could be asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic patients,” she urged.

"I would like for younger and active people to participate especially actively,” she stressed.

The same day, the city of Daegu announced that "Patient 31,” a 61-year-old woman who was the first diagnosed with the virus in the region, had been released from the hospital on Apr. 24 after 67 days. The woman's hospitalization had been the longest for any patient in South Korea, and the city is currently looking over related laws to determine if it can collect more than 30 million won (US$24,452) from her in treatment costs.

Meanwhile, disease control authorities said they were considering the introduction of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing as a way of diagnosing the coronavirus within one hour in emergency situations such as those requiring urgent surgery or childbirth. Observers have been raising the need to shorten the times associated with the current testing method, which takes six to eight hours to produce a result.

By Park Da-hae and Choi Ha-yan, staff reporters, and Koo Dae-sun, Daegu correspondent

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