South Korea is from today no longer requiring people to show proof of vaccination or negative test results to enter indoor spaces, removing a key preventive measure during a fast-developing surge in cases of the Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 that is elevating hospitalizations and deaths.
The South Korean Ministry of Health and Welfare’s announcement yesterday came as the country set another one-day record in COVID-19 deaths at 114, breaking the previous high of 112 set on Saturday.
More than 710 COVID-19 patients were in critical or serious conditions, up from 200 to 300 in the middle of last month, while nearly half of the country’s intensive care units designated for COVID-19 patients were occupied.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Rescinding the “anti-epidemic pass” would free more health workers to help monitor nearly 800,000 COVID-19 cases with mild or moderate symptoms who have been asked to isolate at home to save hospital space, said Park Hyang, a senior health ministry official.
About 250,000 people per day received free rapid antigen tests at public health offices and testing stations over the past week.
About half of those came for 24-hour proof of negative tests, the ministry said.
Since December last year, adults were required to show their vaccination status through smartphone apps or present proof of negative tests to enter potentially crowded spaces such as restaurants, coffee shops, gyms and karaoke venues.
However, the policy had already been challenged by local court rulings in cities such as Daegu, where a district judge last week ruled the measures as excessive for people in their 50s and younger.
He cited that the government has shifted the focus of its anti-virus campaign toward high-risk groups, including people in their 60s or older and those with preexisting medical conditions.
“We had considered the need to focus our limited public health resources to testing high-risk groups and managing people who already tested positive. There had also been regional confusion following court rulings,” Park said during a briefing.
She said that authorities have no plans to reintroduce the anti-epidemic pass unless the COVID-19 pandemic undergoes another major change, such as the emergence of a new variant.
“While the anti-epidemic pass has been halted, we ask for people in their 60s or older and unvaccinated people to exercise even more caution than before,” Park said, adding that omicron could dangerous to them.
Omicron has so far seemed less likely to cause serious illness or death than the Delta variant that hit the country hard in December and early January, but hospitalizations and deaths are beginning to rise amid a larger outbreak that is stretching worn-out health and public workers.
More than 86 percent of the country’s population are fully vaccinated and about 61 percent have received booster shots.
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