South Korea extends business restrictions as Omicron case rises Coronavirus pandemic News

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum says the extension is necessary to slow down the deployment of Omicron after the New Year celebrations.

South Korea extended COVID-19 social distance rules for two weeks on Friday, including a 9 p.m.

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said it was necessary to extend the restrictions that would end on Sunday to slow the deployment of Omicron, amid fears that the New Year’s Moon holiday ending on Wednesday could lead to infections.

“Slowing the pace of Omicron’s deployment, which is going from peak to peak, is a priority in this difficult situation,” he said at a televised government response meeting.

New daily cases have tripled in the last two weeks, but the death toll and serious infections have remained relatively low in the highly vaccinated country.

South Korea reported a record daily growth of 27,443 new COVID-19 cases, with 24 new deaths, the Korean Disease Control and Prevention Agency said on Friday.

The extended restrictions, which also include a six-person limit for private meetings, are hurting companies that have had to close since early December and have suffered a number of cuts in the last two years.

Many small business owners say they have been forced to take on a heavy debt to deal with the cuts and complained of poor government support.

While economies such as Germany and Japan have spent 15 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) on financial aid in 2020, South Korea has spent only 6.4% of its GDP, according to International Monetary Fund statistics.

Last month, more than 200 small business owners in Seoul publicly beheaded the government in protest of the pandemic’s curtailment.

In January, South Korea introduced an additional budget of 14 trillion won ($ 11.75 billion) to help self-employed and small businesses affected by the latest border.

Nearly 86 percent of the country’s 52 million people are fully vaccinated, and 53.8 percent have received booster shots.

To manage the rise in cases, the government has put in place a new testing regime that allows only priority groups to perform polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests while others can get a quick antigen test in a clinic for a faster initial diagnosis.

Also, the mandatory quarantine for people who received positive vaccines was reduced from 10 days to one week, and allowed more people with few or no symptoms to be cared for at home.

Overall, South Korea has reported 934,656 COVID-19 cases and 6,836 deaths since the pandemic began.