In relation to COVID-19, the government has decided to investigate the number of COVID-19 antibodies in 10,000 general citizens at the request of the Presidential Transition Committee.



Ahn Cheol-soo, chairman of the transition committee, held a briefing at the office of the transition committee in Tongui-dong on the 30th and explained the progress of the Corona Emergency Response Special Committee, which he also chaired.



Chairman Ahn said, "Now, in the era of Omicron, (testing) is more necessary than before," he said.



He said, "We insisted that this is necessary because it is scientific data that is very helpful in disease control and quarantine management." He said, "The government also received this."



Chairman Ahn said that he requested the government to once more extend the ban on the use of disposable products, which had been temporarily suspended until April 1, in relation to support for damage to the self-employed and small business owners. We are going, and we are positively reviewing it.”




Regarding the government's social distancing measures, he said, "When [Omicron] is on an upward trend, it is spreading more because it weakens social distancing. This is wrong. It is right to ease the two groups to some extent,” he pointed out first.



He continued, "It's still a bit unstable, but many experts think in common that it will eventually turn to a downward trend in March." When that happens, we have requested the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters to ease the distance in stages and are waiting for an answer.”



He added, "I am looking forward to confirming the decrease in the number of confirmed cases in this area and announcing measures to ease social distancing."



Chairman Ahn explained that he had requested not only to ease social distancing, but also to prepare for countermeasures against the increase in the number of deaths or severe cases.



Chairman Ahn said that there is a blind spot in estimating the size of the economic loss caused by the corona virus.



He said, "There are more (missing parts in the budget estimate) than I thought. I will have to tell you about this part so that the overall estimated budget can be grasped."

He said that he plans to intensively deal with this in the Special Committee on People's Livelihood and Economy in the future.



(Photo = Insuui Photo Reporters Group, Yonhap News)