Private gathering limit raised to eight people

A bar in central Seoul's Jongno District puts up a notice that it closes at 11 p.m. [YONHAP]

In a slight relaxation of social distancing regulations, private gatherings of up to eight people will be allowed from Saturday for two weeks, up from the current limit of six. The 11 p.m. curfew for restaurants, cafes and gyms remains unchanged.

Korea added 407,017 new Covid-10 cases Friday, after a record high of over 600,000 on Thursday. The number of severely ill patients dropped for the second day in a row, to 1,049 on Friday. The number of death also dropped from Thursday’s record high of 429 to 301.

“It is difficult to make any drastic change to social distancing measures considering the continuing surge of the Omicron variant,” said Kwon Deok-cheol, Minister of Health and Welfare in a Covid-19 response meeting Friday.

“About 66.5 percent of the intensive care units are filled and the percentage is rapidly going up," he said. "In some regions, almost 90 percent of such units are occupied.”

BYLEESUN-MIN[summerlee@joongang.co.kr]