As many countries, including the U.S., Europe and Japan, seem to have entered into a second viral wave, the Korean government is making frantic efforts not to follow the examples of these pandemic-stricken nations.

The nation, which had controlled new virus cases to a few dozens for most of the past four months or so, recently saw the daily tally soar to three-digit figures. The cumulative caseload over the past five days is approaching 1,000, due mainly to the mass outbreaks in Seoul and its vicinity.

Korea has managed to curb the spread of the virus while maintaining most business and daily activities instead of imposing a national lockdown.

Faced with the resurge of Covid-19 cases, the public health authorities raised the level of social distancing in Seoul and the neighboring areas by one notch to Level 2 in the three-tier system for two weeks from Sunday. The scheme will still allow people to maintain most of their daily routines, but ban the gatherings of more than 100 people. Sports events will be prohibited from having spectators.

Health officials say they may further adopt stricter social distancing rules unless the pace of new infections in the Seoul metro region, which houses around half of the nation's population, returns to a manageable level this week.

"The current situation is so grave that we have to consider adopting tougher (infection preventive) measures." Health Minister Park Neung-hoo said in a daily task force meeting. "Anyone in the capital city and neighboring areas can be infected. It is worrisome that the virus outbreak may spread across the country."

Should the highest level of distancing rules be imposed, gatherings of more than 10 people will be banned. Koreans will then face the tightest restrictions in their everyday lives since the country detected its first COVID-19 case on Jan. 20, verging on a lockdown.

The Level 2 social distancing, which went into effect on Sunday in Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province, is regarded as Level 1.5, as the key measures were recommendations, not enforcement. Under the new measure now being considered, however, all steps will be nearly coercive, which accompanies legal punishment for violators.

Jun Kwang-hoon, the leading pastor of Sarang Jeil Church, the new Covid-19 hotspot, has also tested positive and transferred to a hospital on Monday.

There is a high possibility of a further virus spike, as hundreds of the church followers attended the Liberation Day rally led by pastor Jun in central Seoul on Saturday. Jun received a notice to isolate himself from the Seoul Metropolitan Government at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday but attended the rally at 3:10 p.m. More than 200,000 petitioners call for his punishment at the Cheong Wa Dae website.

Some churches and conservative organizations, such as Sarang Jeil Church, held a mass assembly despite the government's order to refrain from holding a meeting on the Liberation Day.

The infections linked to churches are continuing to spread widely. Two new cases were reported at Severance Hospital, one of the Big Five hospitals in the nation. A nurse who had visited the controversial church and her colleague have tested positive.

The nurse visited the church on Aug. 9 and worked at the hospital from Aug. 10 to 14 without showing symptoms until confirmation. The nurse was confirmed while the health authorities recently conducted a Covid-19 test on people who visited the church.

Severance Hospital closed one of its buildings where the nurse worked, and it is working on disinfection.

The government decided to strengthen measures to limit the number of students attending schools for about four weeks from Tuesday to Sep. 11 as the infections continue to surge.

The Ministry of Education decided to reinforce and implement measures to minimize the students at schools in the greater Seoul area from Tuesday with the Level 2 social distancing regime. Kindergartens and elementary and middle schools have to lower their attendance capacity to less than one-third of them for two weeks from reopening in September until Sep. 11.

On Tuesday, the nation reported 246 new virus cases – 235 local infections and 11 foreign arrivals -- raising the cumulative caseload to 15,761 as of midnight Monday.

Eleven more people recovered, pushing the number of cured patients to 13,934, with 1,521 receiving treatment, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said. The death toll increased to 306 as the virus claimed one patient's life on Monday. The nation has tested 1,697,042 suspected patients since Jan. 3.

shim531@docdocdoc.co.kr

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