Chinanews.com, February 18. According to a comprehensive report, South Korea's Central Epidemic Prevention and Countermeasures Headquarters reported on the 18th that as of 0:00 that day, South Korea had added 109,831 new confirmed cases of the new crown compared with 0:00 the previous day, with a total of 1,755,806 confirmed cases.
The government has decided to adjust the current epidemic prevention measures and extend the restrictions on the business hours of public gathering places from 9 pm to 10 pm.
According to reports, the number of newly confirmed cases of the new crown in South Korea has doubled from a week ago and four times from two weeks ago, exceeding 100,000 for the first time.
The epidemic prevention department expects that the number of confirmed cases will continue to increase, and may reach 130,000 to 170,000 by the end of the month.
Modeling results from the National Institute of Mathematical Sciences show that the number of confirmed cases will peak at 270,000 by the middle of next month.
Data map: In Seoul, South Korea, medical staff test a citizen for the new crown virus.
South Korean Prime Minister Kim Fuqian said at a meeting of the Central Disaster Safety Countermeasures Headquarters on the 18th that the government has decided to adjust the current epidemic prevention measures, and the restrictions on the business hours of public gathering places will be extended from the original 9 pm to 10 pm, while private gatherings are limited. The number remains at 6.
This measure will be implemented on the 19th and will last until the 13th of next month.
Jin Fuqian also said that the youth epidemic prevention pass (inoculation certificate, negative certificate) system originally planned to be implemented on the 1st of next month will be postponed to April 1st.
Regarding whether to continue to implement the epidemic prevention pass measures, Jin Fuqian said that the government decided to adjust the scope of application after comprehensively observing the implementation of the front-line and changes in the epidemic prevention situation.
Regarding the current epidemic situation where the number of daily cases has surged to more than 100,000, Jin Fuqian said, "Like other countries, this is also a stage we will pass through. According to experts' predictions, the epidemic will hit between the end of February and the middle of March. At the top, we can also relax social distancing measures like other countries and let people return to their daily lives."