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People wait in line at a temporary screening center in Seoul to get tested for COVID-19 on Wednesday. (Yonhap News)

With the COVID-19 caseload in the greater Seoul area reaching its highest level so far, the South Korean government has decided to leave social distancing regulations at Level 2 for another week. The authorities, who regard this as the beginning of the fourth wave of the pandemic, have decided to consider raising social distancing to the highest level, Level 4, if the outbreak worsens during the next week.

The public health authorities reported Wednesday that 1,212 new cases of COVID-19 were identified on the previous day. That’s close to Korea’s daily record of 1,240, recorded on Dec. 25, 2020. More specifically, Seoul reported 577 cases, while greater Seoul (which includes Incheon and Gyeonggi Province) reported 990 cases, both the greatest number since the pandemic began.

“We’re postponing the revised social distancing measures in the greater Seoul area and extending the current measures, at Level 2, for one week, from July 8 to July 14, to respond more vigorously to the disease,” said an official from South Korea’s Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters (CDSCH) in the daily briefing on Wednesday.

“The government means to extend the current social distancing system for another week and take additional measures as we do our best to stop the spread of the disease. If the situation isn’t brought under control over the next few days, we may have to adopt the toughest level of social distancing,” Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said in the CDSCH meeting on Wednesday.

Kim was referring to Level 4, which prohibits meetings of three or more people after 6 pm, as well as all assemblies other than from one-person protests.

Lee Gi-il, first control officer at the CDSCH, said Wednesday that the recent surge in cases began in crowded areas generally frequented by young people in the greater Seoul area, leading to a large number of infections in the general public.

“The big number of cases reported in Gangnam District, Jung District, and Seocho District in Seoul were caused when customers and employees at bars and clubs visited other facilities, spreading the disease. Given the current proliferation of viral variants around the world, we believe the growing number of cases in the greater Seoul area represents the beginning of the fourth wave of COVID-19,” Lee said.

A CDSCH official explained that there were an average of 636.3 COVID-19 cases in the greater Seoul area over the past seven days, which is enough to move to the third level of social distancing.

But there are issues with Level 3, which would allow nightlife facilities to remain open until 10 pm and would lift restrictions on the hours of operation at indoor sports facilities and other public facilities.

Therefore, the government has decided to maintain social distancing at Level 2, given that the public could take a partial easing of disease control measures as an excuse to let their guard down.

By Kim Ji-hoon, staff reporter

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