South Korea unveils guidelines for opening society amid COVID-19

SEOUL, April 24 (UPI) -- South Korean officials unveiled a set of health and safety guidelines Friday as the country prepares to expand social and economic activities amid a continuing decline in new COVID-19 cases.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare released a public draft of guidelines for a new phase of "daily life quarantine" slated to begin on May 6. The draft provides detailed hygiene and disease prevention rules for 31 everyday situations in locations such as public transport, shops, offices, recreation facilities and event venues.

"This is an unprecedented outbreak that we are witnessing in South Korea and to transition to daily life quarantine we need to establish new rules and new guidelines one by one with the cooperation of public experts," Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip said at a briefing on Friday.

Kim said the new codes were prepared with the participation of 12 government ministries and would be revised with feedback from the public before being finalized.

"We are trying to make sure [the guidelines] are practical and can be complied with by the public in daily life," he said. "To have successful guidelines it is very important to strike a balance."

Guidance includes spreading out seating arrangements and providing adequate ventilation and disinfection routines at places such as restaurants and offices. At the workplace, face-to-face meetings should be kept to a minimum and shaking hands should be avoided.

The protocols also call for maintaining a distance of roughly six feet when possible in public places and limiting physical interactions through methods such as contact-less payment options at stores. At religious services, weddings and funerals, attendees are advised to wear masks and limit the size of gatherings.

Kim said that officials are also working on plans for bringing students back to school with measures such as staggering school hours and keeping added distance in classrooms. Students began a new semester with online classes earlier this month.

The plans were announced as South Korea saw its daily number of confirmed COVID-19 patients shrink to just six on Friday, with no new deaths reported. The country's total number of coronavirus cases stands at 10,708, with 240 deaths.

Through early and widespread testing and tracing, South Korea managed to dramatically flatten the curve of new infections without having to resort to the large-scale lockdowns seen in Europe and the United States.

The government has begun loosening restrictions on venues such as places of worship and nightclubs, which have been allowed to start reopening this week under disinfection guidelines.

Professional sports such as baseball have been permitted to resume without fans in attendance. Preseason games for the Korea Baseball Organization began on Tuesday and the regular season is scheduled to kick off on May 5.

The country also held national parliamentary elections last week, which saw high voter turnout under enhanced safety measures.

However, authorities cautioned that the coronavirus remains a persistent threat and that life will not return to normal anytime soon.

"We still are seeing a global pandemic and we do not yet have an effective vaccine or treatment for COVID-19," Kim said. "Many experts at home and abroad say the outbreak could be prolonged for about two years. We need to acknowledge the fact that it will be difficult for us to go back to our pre-COVID-19 lives."