강화된 거리두기의 고무적 결과... 그러나 여전히 안심은 금물
Despite the sporadic cluster infections, South Korea has been seeing a downward trend in daily Covid-19 cases since the nation imposed tighter social distancing guidelines in the greater capital area.
Health officials say they will decide whether to extend the current stringent measures beyond Sunday this weekend.
Our Han Seong-woo has the details.
By tracing the movement of mobile phone signals, the South Korean government announced Thursday that, since social distancing Level Two kicked in, people have generally been staying at home more.
"After analyzing mobile phone data, we've found that human movement has decreased by roughly 20 percent compared to right after social distancing was upgraded to Level Two."
Health officials also say that the past week saw COVID-19's rate of infectivity drop to below one, meaning that on average one patient is responsible for less than one further transmission.
The southeastern port city of Busan, starting Thursday at 3 PM, decided to ease restrictions on six out of the twelve so-called "high-risk facilities".
Meaning PC and karaoke rooms are able to operate, albeit at a limited capacity.
But this comes amid concerns for the livelihoods of those who are self-employed... and is not necessarily a sign that the worst is over.
The government warns that COVID-19 is still very much at large, especially in the capital region.
"We are still on high alert as slight jumps in new cases have been observed over the past few days with some regions seeing a rise in unidentified transmission routes."
Authorities will decide this coming weekend on whether to maintain Level two-point-five social distancing measures in the greater Seoul area.
Han Seong-woo, Arirang News.