<Anchor> The



government has taken measures to prevent new mutations. More countries are likely to restrict entry, details to be announced soon by the government.



Next is reporter Park Chan-geun.



<Reporter>



The urgency of responding to mutations in Omicron can be seen from the appearance of the Blue House, which gave a written briefing on the night of last night (30th) after work.



President Moon Jae-in has ordered stronger entry quarantine measures to block the influx of this new mutation, as there have been cases of suspected Omicron mutation.



The government immediately formed a task force centered on the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and started preparing countermeasures.



We held a private meeting this afternoon, and we plan to announce measures to strengthen entry in a little while.



[Sohn Young-rae / Head of the Central Accident Resolving Headquarters Social Strategy Team: We are strengthening various inspections while strengthening entry, but it is difficult to conclude that there is currently no possibility of influx into the domestic community… .] In



addition to the eight South African countries, including South Africa and Zimbabwe, which banned entry of foreigners three days ago, countries with entry restrictions can be expanded.



Countries with confirmed cases of Omicron mutation may be included.



The number of countries with omicron mutations continues to increase, with currently 20 countries across Africa, Europe, and Asia, including Nigeria, Germany, Spain, Japan, Hong Kong, and Australia.



There is also the possibility of testing for mutations on everyone who enters through these countries.



The Medical Association has proposed to the government to temporarily suspend the quarantine exemption system for those who have been vaccinated to prevent the introduction and spread of Omicron mutations.



The government may set risk levels for each country and apply different quarantine measures against entry in consideration of economic impacts such as diplomatic relations between countries and business activities across multiple countries.



(Video editing: Park Ji-in, CG: Ryu Sang-soo)