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From yesterday (18th), you can use large marts without a quarantine pass. As the target of the quarantine pass comes and goes, there have been many responses saying that if you don't search hard enough, you can't help but get confused. The government has decided to expand the exceptions for the quarantine pass and is reviewing the relevant details, but pregnant women are excluded from the exception. The number of new confirmed cases today is expected to reach 5,000. 



Correspondent Park Jae-hyun.



<Reporter> About



135,000 facilities, or 11% of the total facilities, have the quarantine pass released.



Specifically, there are six types of reading rooms, study cafes, academies, department stores and large marts, museums and libraries, movie theaters, and performance halls.



The government explained that facilities with low activity where people continue to wear masks and where saliva splashes are subject to release.



The quarantine pass will be maintained at restaurants and cafes, and among academies, where wind instruments, vocal music, and acting are taught, the quarantine pass will be applied again after the court decision.



Some people welcome the cancellation of the quarantine pass, but there were also responses that they were confused by the frequently changing policy.



[Choi Woo-chan / Yangcheon-gu, Seoul: I'm actually confused. It's not maintained all the time, but (the quarantine pass) has changed... The number of people changed, the location changed, the time changed, and so on, unless you are interested and look for it, what will happen and what will not work (I don't know.)]



Tomorrow, the government will announce an improvement plan that will allow more broad recognition of those who are exempt from the quarantine pass for health reasons.



However, for pregnant women, it is difficult to recognize a medical exception, saying that there is a high risk of corona infection and there have been reports of deaths without vaccination.



On the other hand, as the omicron mutation spreads, the number of new confirmed cases is on the rise again.



The number of new confirmed cases counted until 9 pm last night was 4,800, an increase of 1,500 from the same time the previous day, and the number of new confirmed cases to be announced today is expected to record the mid-5,000s.