South Korea’s president warned on Sunday that the government could be forced to impose tougher restrictions on public life as new COVID – 19 cases continue to rise.
Reuters quoted Moon Jae-in as saying during a news conference that South Korea could move to its tertiary corona virus-related controls if case numbers were not brought under control, a rule that would require individual class reports for schools as well as the decision to work only on essential workers.
“If the eruption cannot be contained now, it has come to the critical stage of considering elevating socio-distance activities to the third level,” he told the news agency.
The president’s comments come as South Korea now sees a new wave of cases than the first wave of COVID-19 cases earlier this year. More than 1,000 new cases were reported in the country on Saturday, most of which were seen by South Korean health officials in a single day.
“Our back is against the wall,” Moon continued, according to Reuters. “This is an important moment for our virus control skills and management to prevent the spread of the corona virus.”
Reuters reports that Moon’s government plans to fund additional nurses and hospital beds in facilities across the country in response to a wave of new epidemics. Health officials said the eruptions were mostly confined to the country’s densely populated urban centers.