Areas outside of Seoul are now going to be hit with increased anti-virus measures this week:
Quarantine officials work at temporary testing stations set up at an elementary school in Daejeon on July 22, 2021.
South Korea will apply the second highest level of virus restrictions for non-capital areas starting this week, health officials said Sunday, in the latest step to stem the rapid spread of the virus in provincial regions at the peak of the summer holiday season.
The announcement was made during a government response meeting, presided over by President Moon Jae-in, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters said.
The heightened distancing rules will take effect Tuesday, to allow time for preparation, and run through Aug. 8.
According to the article 76% of the cases in Korea are from the Delta variant. However, the article makes no mention of how many people have died from the variant:
A medical staff member collects a specimen from an elementary school student for COVID-19 testing in a temporary screening station in the central city of Daejeon on July 22, 2021. (Yonhap)
South Korea’s daily new coronavirus cases hit a fresh high of over 1,800 on Thursday with mass infections from a virus-hit naval unit, while authorities are increasingly inclined to extend the toughest virus restrictions in the wider Seoul area amid no signs of a letup.
The country added 1,842 COVID-19 cases, including 1,533 local infections, raising the total caseload to 184,103, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
The latest figure was the highest ever since the country confirmed the first case in January 2020, breaking the previous record of 1,784 on Wednesday.
Wow I can’t believe this is still happening even under the highest restrictions (in which people can still go to work, hang out in cafes, eat in restaurants, drink in bars, attend church… as long as they go two at a time and only until 10) https://t.co/tOUNsDe5XV
It is a bit ironic that the Moon administration is relying on nuclear energy to meet the need for increased power supply from the summer heat when they have long claimed they want to do away with nuclear power:
Air conditioners installed on an apartment in Gwanak District, Seoul, on Tuesday. As temperatures continue to rise, air conditioner user has led to a spike in energy consumption. [YONHAP]
The government is trying to stabilize the nation’s power supply by getting nuclear reactors back into operation.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy said Tuesday that the Shin Kori unit 4 reactor, which was closed for maintenance, will be back in operation July 21, a week earlier than planned.
Shin Wolsong unit 1 reactor, which had its start date moved up a month to July 18, will reach its full capacity of 1,000 megawatts by July 21.
The Wolsong unit 3 reactor, which was shut for maintenance, will go back into operation on schedule on July 23.
The three reactors will be contributing 2,150 additional megawatt of energy this week.
Hopefully this mountaineer can be found, but considering the altitude he got lost at and the extreme terrain, it seems any rescue is going to be difficult:
Kim Hong-bin, a fingerless mountaineer who went missing in the Himalayas, is shown in this photo provided by the mountaineers’ association in Gwangju, on July 19, 2021.
South Korea has asked China and Pakistan for help in the search for a Korean mountaineer missing in the Himalayas, a foreign ministry official said Tuesday.
Kim Hong-bin, a mountaineer also known for having lost his fingers to frostbite, went missing on Monday while on his way back down from the summit of the 8,047-meter high Broad Peak, located in Pakistan’s Karakoram Range.
He broke the record of climbing all of the world’s 14 highest peaks in the Himalayas as a person with a disability.
“We contacted the authorities in Pakistan and China as soon as we learned he went missing and requested a dispatch of rescue teams, including a helicopter,” ministry spokesperson Choi Young-sam said in a press briefing.
I guess we will see if the KCTU gets bashed like Korean conservatives were after a rally last August by the Korean media and government:
Members of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) march down the Jongno district during a rally in Seoul on July 3, 2021. (Yonhap)
At least three protesters who took part in the latest massive rally organized by a major umbrella labor group have tested positive for COVID-19, health authorities said Saturday, sparking concerns about potential further infections amid spiking virus cases.
A woman in her 50s was confirmed Friday to be infected with the virus after attending the street rally held by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) in central Seoul on July 3, and two more protesters tested positive Saturday.
Around 8,000 members of the KCTU participated in the rally to demand a revision to the labor act, despite authorities’ repeated call to cancel it amid the pandemic.
People are getting angry. It's amazing how patient and resilient South Koreans have been. But, sooner or later, things are going to boil over. https://t.co/CNHUtOyXrr
I think it is arguable that the government is trying to blame younger people for the current COVID surge instead of themselves for the slow vaccine rollout:
People in their 20s and 30s are complaining of being stigmatized as the main culprits of the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, in which the number of infections among people in this age group is significantly higher compared to during previous waves.
Many young people point out that the government is trying to leave the responsibility for controlling the fourth wave to them while they have been pushed to the back of the line in the country’s vaccination plans. In recent weeks, public health authorities have urged people in their 20s and 30s to abide by the social distancing guidelines, all the while suggesting that they are the most responsible for the spreading of the virus. (……..)
In response, young people have said that they are unable to understand the government’s message because they are the last group planned to be vaccinated according to the government’s vaccination schedule, and thus have lower vaccination rates than other age groups, making them more vulnerable to infection.
I guess we will see if the South Korean government tries to cancel the upcoming vacation season for South Koreans:
Local governments in charge of antivirus measures at popular summer vacation destinations are on high alert for a massive influx of vacationers from the greater Seoul area and other regions hit by a surge of COVID-19 cases.
South Korea’s daily new coronavirus cases have been in excess of 1,500 in recent days, with the capital area accounting for approximately three-fourths of the total.
Fearing that increased tourist arrivals at famous beaches and mountains nationwide will further fuel the spread of the coronavirus, local governments are moving to beef up their quarantine efforts.
![Air conditioners installed on an apartment in Gwanak District, Seoul, on Tuesday. As temperatures continue to rise, air conditioner user has led to a spike in energy consumption. [YONHAP]](https://i0.wp.com/koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2021/07/20/502803e3-349e-42f2-a198-4ce5c47279e5.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)
