<Anchor> The



government has decided to release the quarantine pass that has been applied to academies, department stores, and large marts from tomorrow (18th). From today, the number of people allowed for private meetings has been adjusted to 6 people.



First news, this is reporter Lee Joo-hyung.



<Reporter>



From tomorrow, the application of quarantine passes to 6 types of multi-use facilities such as academies, large marts, and movie theaters will be lifted.



Specifically, private academies, reading rooms, libraries, museums, department stores, large marts, movie theaters, and concert halls.



The government announced that the quarantine pass will not be applied to facilities where the corona epidemic has become smaller and the medical capacity has increased, so you can always wear a mask and have a low chance of splashing saliva.



[Sohn Young-rae / Head of Social Strategy Division at Central Accident Remediation Headquarters: According to the conflicting judgments of the courts, there is confusion that the quarantine passes for department stores and marts are applied differently by region, so maintenance of the quarantine pass is necessary.]



However, entertainment facilities, indoor sports facilities , karaoke rooms, restaurants/cafes, massage parlors, etc. will retain the quarantine pass.



The quarantine authorities also explained that it is necessary to continue applying the quarantine pass to teenagers aged 12 to 18, and said they expect the court decision to stop applying the quarantine pass to teenagers in Seoul will change.



Meanwhile, starting today, the number of people available for private meetings for three weeks, including the Lunar New Year holiday, will increase from 4 to 6.



The restaurant and cafe opening hours remain unchanged until 9:00 PM.




The quarantine authorities said that the detection rate of Omicron mutation last week was 26.7%, more than double the 12.5% ​​of the previous week, and 94.7% of the confirmed cases imported from abroad were analyzed as Omicron infection.



Therefore, it is expected that the omicron mutation will become the dominant species by this weekend.



Yesterday, 3,859 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in Korea, with 3,551 cases excluding 308 imported from overseas.



For the first time this year, the number of patients with severe serious illness was 579, and the death toll was 23.