The curfew on restaurants and cafes from Feb. 19 to March 13 will be extended an hour to 10 p.m. (Korea.net DB)
By Lee Jihae
The curfew on restaurants and cafes has been extended for an hour from 9 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum on Feb. 18 announced this and other social distancing measures at a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters at Government Complex-Seoul.
The measures will remain in effect from Feb. 19 to March 13.
The number of people allowed at a private gathering stayed at six.
The vaccine pass for minors was delayed for a month and will take effect on April 1, the prime minister said.
Meanwhile, the U.S. magazine Atlantic on Feb. 15 lauded Korea's response to COVID-19 in the article headlined "The Seven Habits of COVID-Resilient Nations."
It said graphs showing deaths due to the pandemic in the U.S. and U.K. "rise up like mountains" while those of Korea is like a "valley."
Dr. Vincent Rajkumar, co-editor-in-chief of Blood Cancer Journal, was quoted as saying Korea "kept deaths 40 times lower all the way till 75% of population fully vaccinated," adding, "This is success."
The article said Korea "repeatedly suppressed the spread of the virus and kept deaths to relatively low levels, but also never instituted a full lockdown. As a result, it has experienced much less economic fallout from the crisis than most other major economies. After a sluggish start to its vaccine campaign, it now has one of the world’s highest vaccination rates."
"South Korea has also amassed soft power and diplomatic influence by providing pandemic-related assistance to other countries and establishing itself as a widely perceived model for how democracies should contend with COVID-19," it added.
jihlee08@korea.kr
