[WORD_ON_THE_WEB] 'Covid-19 is part of our everyday lives now'

The government is considering easing social distancing measures earlier than expected. The social distancing measures were to last until March 13 initially.

Senior epidemiological strategist at the Central Disaster Management Headquarters Son Young-rae explained in a briefing held on March 2 that “the Daily Recovery Support Committee and the affiliated quarantine medical subcommittee [...] will allow us to assess the current quarantine situation and take the public’s opinions about quarantine alleviation.”

He also promised the government will “not only hear from medical experts but also related officials, local governments, the self-employed and small business owners to draw the best conclusion.”

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said during a Covid-19 response meeting held on March 2 that “we promise to analyze the situation with care, and discuss measures to alleviate quarantine in a way that doesn’t neglect the spread of the Omicron variant.”

#right_decisions_made
“This is the right decision to make. People will blame the government nonetheless. Since the symptoms of the Omicron variant are not so severe, individuals should be able to take care of themselves from now on.”
“They’ve made a good choice. People around me who got infected seem to fare okay with relatively light symptoms. Maybe it’s the vaccine. If we make sure the ICU patients receive proper treatment, it’ll be alright. Covid-19 is part of our everyday lives now.”

#a_cautionary_tale
“I don’t know about the opening hour restrictions, but the number of people allowed to gather should stay at 6 people max.”

#pre_election_politics
“Alleviating quarantine before the election seems like a cheap and easy trick to rake in votes from the self-employed.”
“They didn’t seem to care before, no matter how many people wanted the quarantine lifted. Why now, when the new cases are over 200,000 and the election is only a week away?”

BY LEE SI-YEOUNG, YOO JI-WOO [yoo.jiwoo@joongang.co.kr]