Yoon Suk Yeol announces end to nearly all Covid-19 restrictions
![President Yoon Suk Yeol holds a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, applauding medical staffers for their dedication in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic at the Yongsan presidential office in Seoul Thursday. [YONHAP]](https://koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2023/05/11/29891342-823c-4656-85ed-9511627e0891.jpg)
President Yoon Suk Yeol holds a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, applauding medical staffers for their dedication in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic at the Yongsan presidential office in Seoul Thursday. [YONHAP]
President Yoon Suk Yeol announced Thursday that Korea will be lowering the national crisis level for Covid-19 from a "serious" level to "alert" starting in June, bringing an end to nearly all pandemic restrictions after three years.
Yoon said in a meeting of the Central Disaster Safety and Countermeasure Headquarters that the Covid-19 isolation period will be reduced from the current mandatory seven days to a recommended five days.
He also said that all indoor mask mandates will be lifted except for in hospitalized patients' rooms. Likewise, the recommendation for PCR tests after entry will also be lifted.
"I am pleased that the people are returning to their daily lives after three years and four months," Yoon said, in actuality declaring a transition to an endemic.
It is the first time that Yoon headed such a Covid-19 meeting in nine months, the last one being on July 29, 2022.
Korea has so far removed most Covid-19 restrictions, with the exception of a mask mandate in high-risk places like hospitals and pharmacies.
Yoon said the government will continue to support expenses for Covid-19 tests and treatments for the time being as a transitional measure.
He went on to thank medical staff including doctors and nurses for their dedication in the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic.
"The government has been doing its best to build an expert-centered science-based response system, moving away from political quarantine," Yoon said in the meeting. "We will raise our standards and strengthen international cooperation."
He promised to carefully prepare post-Covid policies to lead to future growth engines.
The move comes after the World Health Organization declared an end of Covid-19 as a global health emergency last week.
BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
To write comments, please log in to one of the accounts.
Standards Board Policy (0/250자)