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Today (3rd), the number of new corona cases is expected to be around 200,000.

Although the rate of increase in the number of confirmed cases is faster than the government expected, the government has hinted that the current social distancing can be eased early.



Reporter Park Soo-jin.



<Reporter> The



rate of increase in the number of confirmed cases also exceeded the government's expectations this time.



The government expected 230,000 people a day to come out on the 9th, the day of the election, but it is already close to 220,000.



It was expected that the peak of the epidemic would be within 1 to 2 weeks at the earliest, faster than initially expected.



The reason is that the rate of growth has slowed down even though the increase has continued.



[Sohn Young-rae/Chief of Social Strategy Division, Central Accident Remediation Headquarters: As of today (2nd), the increase rate of the number of confirmed cases is slowing compared to the previous week, but we believe that we will be able to make a clear judgment by observing the situation a little more this week.]



There were 762 cases of severe serious illness and 96 people died the day before, which is still on the rise.



The utilization rate of critically ill beds, which was in the 10% range a month ago, has also exceeded 50%, but the government thinks that there is still enough room to respond to medical care.



Furthermore, he hinted at the possibility of easing the restrictions on 6 private gatherings and 10 p.m. business early.



It is said that the announcement could be made around this Friday through collecting opinions even before the current social distancing end date 13 days.



[Kim Bu-gyeom/Prime Minister: While closely analyzing the current quarantine situation regarding social distancing, we will gather discussions on the need for adjustment from the perspective of the Omicron response goal.



] It is not enough to prevent it, but the damage to the self-employed is growing.



Another reason for considering easing the distance is that the core goal is to minimize the severity and death rather than contain the confirmed cases.



The government is still encouraging people to get vaccinated, saying the vaccine is the most powerful weapon.



However, there does not seem to be a sharp way to raise the vaccination rate after the quarantine pass for those living with the confirmed person is exempted and the quarantine pass is suspended.