South Korea imposes highest restrictions on Seoul amid record Covid cases

Seoul, Jul 9 (EFE).- South Korea on Friday recorded a new daily record of Covid-19 infections with 1,316 cases, prompting the government to approve the highest level of restrictions for Seoul and its surroundings, where 80 percent of new cases are concentrated.

Friday’s data also represents the first time that South Korea has added more than 1,200 daily infections for three days in a row, while two deaths were recorded.

Given these figures, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum chaired an inter-ministerial meeting today in which it was decided to implement the maximum level of restrictions (4) in the capital region for two weeks starting on July 12.

Under level 4, meetings of a maximum of four people will be allowed, a measure that has been in force in the region since December, but after 6 pm, only a maximum of two people will be able to meet.

Funerals and weddings may only have the participation of family members, demonstrations will be prohibited, spectators are banned from sports stadiums, nightclubs must close and classes in schools and universities must be entirely online.

Bars and restaurants may continue to close at 10 pm.

The recent increase in infections in South Korea is linked to the more contagious Delta variant of the virus, and is mainly affecting those between 20 and 39 years old, a group that still does not have access to vaccines.

South Korea is one of the countries that have best managed the pandemic, accumulating only about 164,000 cases and 2,000 deaths, and so far it has not resorted to lockdowns or border closures.

However, it faces the problem in the global supply of vaccines, which means that at the moment only 15.47 million people (30.2 percent of the population) have received at least one dose and 5.57 million (11 percent) are fully vaccinated. EFE

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