The Korean government will push for a shift to what is dubbed as,“With Corona”. A step-by-step recovery plan which will occur between the end of this month and early November. As the fourth wave continues to spread, the measure takes into account that due to long-term highly intense social distancing the economy, education, and social culture can not function properly and aims to solve these issues. At a Cabinet meeting in the Blue House president Moon Jae In said, “We cannot just slow down the time for phased recovery at a time when damage to small business owners and self-employed people accumulates. They can no longer withstand these conditions. We must improve on the management of the situation and accelerate the rate of vaccination.”
The government has proposed the end of October to early November as the time to change the quarantine system and transition to a phased daily recovery. This is the time when the COVID-19 vaccination completion rate reaches 70% of the population. Health and Welfare Minister Kwon Deok-cheol stated at an invitational debate at the Broadcasting Journalists Club, “It is questionable whether we will be able to maintain the current distance system when referring to other countries with high vaccination rates.” However, even if we try to return to our daily lives it will be difficult to return to before COVID-19. Minister Kwon said, “The medical system cannot handle when the number of confirmed cases is 4,000 and 10,000,” adding, “Basic quarantine rules should always be observed.” Rules such as wearing a mask and social distancing should be observed continuously.
Minister Mr. Kwon then explained, “We are considering regulating private gatherings or easing the distancing of multi-use facilities, focusing on those who have completed vaccination. We will also gradually resolve the quarantine rules by midnight.” In addition, he mentioned that Germany’s “vaccine pass” system which allows those who have completed vaccination, been cured, or those who have tested negative (diagnostic test results) to use multi-use facilities may also be necessary in Korea. The government plans to change major quarantine indicators from the total number of confirmed patients and transition to critical and fatal rate data while promoting the expansion of home treatment for regularly confirmed patients. It seems that regardless of this change on the economic front the consumer sentiment index rebounded for the first time in three months amid the prolonged COVID-19. Rather than correlating with the number of new confirmed patients, consumer sentiment has elevated due to increased vaccination and strong commodity exports. It is evaluated that the trend of COVID-19 re-proliferation and with COVID-19 policy after Chuseok are variables.
According to the September 2021 Consumer Trend Survey released by the Bank of Korea on the 28th the Consumer Sentiment Index (CCSI) stood at 103.8 this month, up 1.3 points from last month (102.5). Due to the additional fourth wave of COVID-19 the CCSI fell 7.1p and 0.7p in July and August respectively but, it is evaluated that the trend of COVID-19 re-proliferation in addition to new COVID-19 policies after Chuseok are possibly positive variables in relation to the upward trend found in September. The consumer sentiment index is a comprehensive indicator of consumer sentiment about economic conditions, and if it is greater than 100, it means that consumers are more optimistic than the long-term average. If it is less than 100 it means that consumers are overall pessimistic. Hwang Hee-jin, head of the statistical research team at the Bank of Korea’s Economic Statistics Bureau said, “Among the six indexes that make up the consumer sentiment index, three indexes rose,” adding, “The prolonged pandemic crisis seems to have slightly lowered the correlation with the increase in new confirmed cases.” At the end of October the impact on the consumer sentiment index is also expected to change depending on the government’s“With Corona”policy. Consumption impact such as national subsidies, and the trend of the spread of Corona. By item, the interest rate-level outlook CSI (134) rose 8p significantly on expectations of an additional increase in the benchmark interest rate. The employment opportunity net CSI (88) also rose 2p due to expectations of an economic recovery.
Even if the current spread of COVID-19, which has up to 3,000 confirmed cases a day, continues, it is considering promoting a “step-by-step daily recovery” in early November as planned, allowing only limited people, including those who have completed vaccinations, to use multi-use facilities. In addition to quarantine and medical responses, the government has also begun to form a “COVID-19 Daily Recovery Committee,” which includes representatives across society, including economy, education, culture, and autonomy.
Health and Welfare Minister Kwon Deok-cheol said at a debate held at the Korea Broadcasting Journalists Club on the 28th, “If the government achieves the inoculation completion rate of 80% of adults and 90% of the elderly by the end of October, our medical response system can respond sufficiently. In the case of the UK, when the inoculation completion rate was 1.6%, the daily recovery rate was 46.6% as of 0 o’clock on the 28th, so it is not premature to switch to the daily recovery.
However, Minister Kwon said, “If up to 4,000 or 10,000 people are confirmed a day, the medical system cannot handle it, so it is necessary to comply with basic quarantine rules such as wearing indoor masks or ventilating frequently. Therefore, we plan to gradually ease them by industry rather than completely.” The government also explained that our medical system can handle up to 3,500 confirmed patients a day based on 976 severe and 12,212 moderate beds currently secured.
Minister Kwon then said he is considering introducing a “vaccine pass” that allows only limited people to use multi-use facilities, including those who have completed vaccinations, along with “relaxing private gatherings centered on those who have completed vaccinations.” According to Minister Kwon’s explanation, Germany allows only those who have been vaccinated, those who have been tested negative, and those who have presented vaccine passes to prove that they have been fully vaccinated may enter multi-use facilities such as indoor events, hospitals, nursing homes, entertainment facilities, and movie theaters. Minister Kwon said, “There are still many confirmed cases, fatalities, and critical situations from those who have not yet been vaccinated, so we are trying to apply this plan to protect them. Restrictions regarding business hours for cafes and restaurants are to be lifted. The construction of the COVID-19 Daily Recovery Committee, which Prime Minister Kim Bu-gyeom reported to President Moon Jae In the previous day, is also in full swing. The Daily Recovery Committee will play a role in creating a roadmap to practice phased daily recovery at the end of October and early November. Park Hyang, head of the Central Disaster Management Headquarters, said at a briefing that day, “We will organize the Daily Recovery Committee into four areas: economy, people’s livelihood, education, culture, autonomy, safety, quarantine, and medical care to fully reflect the opinions of experts and stakeholders.” A government official said, “The Living Disease Control Committee is a place to judge based on quarantine and medical response, and the Daily Recovery Committee is a place to review quarantine, economy, people’s livelihood, education, and culture at the same level. Local governments should also make judgments on whether it is actually possible, he said. “The formation of the committee will be visible next week.”
Starting with Kim Yoon, a medical professor at Seoul National University (medical management), Lee Jae-gap, a professor of infectious medicine at Hallym University Gangnam Sacred Heart Hospital (infectious medicine), and Yoon Tae-ho, a professor of preventive medicine (prevention medicine), will hold two debates or public hearings in October to collect opinions.
Sam Kim
Asia Journal
