The Dilemma Of The South Korean Government Facing A New Variant Of Corona Virus And The Screams Of Entrepreneurs

Illustration. (Mufid Majnun / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-Kyun on Thursday local time, ordered changes to social distancing guidelines in an effort to stop local transmission of the new variant of the coronavirus.

This could be a middle way to deal with two contrasting conditions. The threat of a new variant of the coronavirus that is already in South Korea, at the same time calming down South Korean businessmen who object to the application of social distancing.

"Instead of unilaterally introducing guidelines, we have to make rules for preventing the virus together with the public", Prime Minister Chung said Thursday local time as reported by Reuters.

The country's five-tier system of social distancing has faced a public backlash, for imposing restrictions and unfair curfews on certain businesses, including a ban on eating in indoor restaurants after 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, at the same time as Prime Minister Chung's statement, health authorities warned of a fourth major wave of infections due to the new, more contagious variants of the coronavirus from Britain and South Africa that cannot be ruled out. In total there have been 39 confirmed cases of this variant.

Prior to that, South Korea had extended social distancing measures and increased vigilance ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, when tens of millions of South Koreans traveled to various regions. This is to anticipate the spread of COVID-19.

For information, until Wednesday, January 3, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 79,762 cases of infection and 1,448 deaths.