The new social distancing period ends tomorrow... "There is a large variation in the number of confirmed cases by region"

The government will announce the steps for social distancing that will be applied to each region across the country tomorrow (14th) and quarantine measures to be implemented by local governments individually.

Son Young-rae, head of the social strategy division at the Central Accident Resolving Headquarters, said at a back briefing for the Ministry of Health and Welfare's reporters today, "Tomorrow is the time when the 'implementation period' of the new distancing system will be completed. It will be announced at the briefing of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (major script)."

The new social distancing has been in effect since the 1st.

Local governments in non-metropolitan areas had a two-week period (from the 1st to 14th) to strengthen the quarantine according to the local situation in order to prevent side effects caused by alleviating the quarantine at once after the introduction of the new distance.

As the recent 4th pandemic is spreading from the metropolitan area to the non-metropolitan area, non-metropolitan local governments are expected to take measures such as raising the level of distancing, extending the implementation period, and reducing the number of private gatherings.

The metropolitan area postponed the implementation of the new distance as the spread of COVID-19 intensified, and since yesterday, the new system has applied the 4th stage, the highest level of quarantine posture.

When asked whether he was considering raising the overall distance in non-metropolitan areas to three levels to reflect the recent increase in the number of confirmed cases, Son replied, "It is not reasonable to take uniform measures nationwide."

“There is a large variation in the number of confirmed cases by region,” he said.Currently, we are managing the cluster infection and the epicenter of the infection, which is a problem in the region, while adjusting the steps of distancing by region.”

Regarding the spread of the 'delta' mutant virus from India, he said, "In mid-June alone, delta infection was as low as 2-4% of all confirmed cases, but recently it is spreading rapidly, with more than 25% being detected." "For now, we have to be very wary of the delta-type diffusion rate," he said.

"Delta mutations do not mean that other containment efforts are needed in the community," he said. "Controlling total infection is the same as controlling mutations."