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The streets of Seoul’s Hongdae area, normally known for its nightlife, are nearly empty on the night of Dec. 5. (Baek So-ah, staff photographer)

In an attempt to curb South Korea’s third wave of COVID-19, the government has decided to elevate social distancing measures in the Seoul Capital Area (SCA) to Level 2.5 for three weeks starting Dec. 8. Level 2.5 represents a partial lockdown where broad restrictions are placed on social and economic activities after 9 pm. Level 2 measures will be imposed on areas outside Seoul for the same period.

“We are currently facing our biggest crisis in the fight against COVID-19, which has continued for more than 10 months,” Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said on Dec. 6 as he announced the elevated measures at a Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (CDSCHQ) meeting at Seoul City Hall. The CDSCHQ determined that the spread of COVID-19 in the SCA is now a mass outbreak and will soon balloon into a nationwide outbreak. Over the past week (Nov. 30 – Dec. 6), the average daily caseload was 514, which exceeds the 400-500 range that serves as a standard for implementing Level 2.5 measures. Moreover, 70% of those cases were in Seoul, where the daily caseload has exceeded 400 over the past four days.

A small business owner in Seoul’s Sinchon area closes his doors on the night of Dec. 5. (Baek So-ah)

The government had elevated social distancing measures to Level 1.5 on Nov. 19, to Level 2 on Nov. 24 and to Level 2+α (plus alpha) on Dec. 1. Except for Busan and Gwangju, which made their own decisions to implement Level 2, other cities and provinces outside the SCA have been under Level 1.5 since Dec. 1. The CDSCHQ had predicted that social distancing would begin to produce results from last weekend (Dec. 5-6), but the virus continues to spread unabated.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 631 cases for Dec. 6, an increase of 48 from the previous day (583), even though nearly 8,000 fewer tests were carried out over the weekend compared to the preceding Friday. The figure of 631 is the third highest number of cases in a single day after the record-breaking 909 on Feb. 29 during the height of the first wave and the 686 recorded on Mar. 2.

The KDCA’s goal is to reduce the number of daily cases in the SCA to 150-200 through Level 2.5 measures.

“Level 2.5 in Greater Seoul is our last chance to prevent a massive nationwide outbreak,” Health Minister Park Neung Hoo said in a regular briefing the same day. “If we fail to rein in the spread of the contagion, we could face the collapse of our medical system.”

By Choi Ha-yan and Kim Yang-jin, staff reporters

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