Authorities on guard against Covid spread over Chuseok

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Authorities on guard against Covid spread over Chuseok

Travelers wait in front of a Covid-19 testing center at Incheon International Airport on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

Travelers wait in front of a Covid-19 testing center at Incheon International Airport on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

 
A ban on visits to nursing homes will remain during the upcoming Chuseok harvest holidays in a precaution against Covid-19, the government announced Wednesday.

 
Chuseok is a holiday on which millions of Koreans return to their hometowns to celebrate with their families. This year’s Chuseok, scheduled from Sept. 9 to 12, will be the first in three years without social distancing restrictions.
 
“The spread of Covid-19 has slowed since last weekend,” Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said while presiding over a virus response meeting on Wednesday.
 
“Yet it is definitely too early to let down our guard,” Han added, “as schools have reopened and travel is increasing ahead of the Chuseok holidays.”
 
Han stressed that the government will focus on the management of nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.
 
“To prevent infection of elderly people, we will continue to maintain the ban on in-person visits during the Chuseok holidays,” Han said. The current preemptive testing policy of employees and restriction on the residents going except for essential outpatient care will be kept to help prevent Covid-19 transmissions during the period.
 
Korea’s sixth wave of the virus showed signs of subsiding compared to last week.
 
The country reported 139,339 new Covid-19 cases on Wednesday, including 456 imported from overseas, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The daily tally was down by 22.9 percent from last Wednesday’s 180,803 infections — the largest number of daily cases recorded yet during the sixth pandemic wave.
 
The average number of new daily cases in the week from Aug. 18 to Wednesday was 129,473.
 
The number of critically ill or serious patients, on the other hand, is on the rise.
 
There were 573 hospitalized Covid-19 patients in critical or serious condition, up by 86 from the previous day. Critical or serious cases are likely to mount for a while, as they tend to rise two to three weeks after increases in new infections.
 
Following the rise of critically ill patients, 63 more people died of the virus overnight.  
 
Cumulative deaths in the past week — from Aug. 18 to 24 — stood at 472, which rose by 102 or 27.6 percent from the week before.
 
The majority of critically ill patients or fatalities were 60 or above.
 
The prime minister also called for active participation in the ongoing inoculation program for children and adolescents as well as for adults.
 
Meanwhile, health authorities said they are "canvassing opinions" about scrapping pre-departure Covid-19 test requirement for incoming travelers.
 
This comes as Japan decided to waive pre-departure Covid-19 tests for vaccinated travelers to the country in an announcement made Wednesday, although it is still restricting individual travelers.
 
"We are conscious of the issue," said Park Hyang, director of antivirus measures at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, during a press briefing on Wednesday. "The KDCA is canvassing experts' opinions on this.
 
"There are many things to consider about [Covid-19 restrictions] for air travel because passengers eat meals in a confined space," Park added.
 
For incoming travelers, Korea requires a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test result performed within 48 hours of the departure date or a negative rapid antigen test (RAT) result performed within 24 hours.

BY SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]
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