The government has extended the current distancing rules for another two weeks ahead of transitioning into the more relaxed "live-with-covid" system from November.
Accordingly, the Seoul metro region will be under the Level 4 distancing measures and the non-capital area under Level 3 measures until Oct. 31. However, as the vaccination rate increases, it will expand the range of incentives for those who have completed vaccination.
The government will allow the private gatherings of up to eight people, including four people who have completed vaccination, in the greater Seoul area – the capital city, the western port of Incheon, and surrounding Gyeonggi Province -- and 10 people in the rest of the country if six people have completed vaccination among them.
On Friday, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said that the incentives, which have been applied only to restaurants and cafes so far, will extend to all multi-use facilities.
"Also, considering the situation of students who are about to take the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) in mid-November, the government will allow other facilities, including study cafes, to operate until midnight even in the Level 4 area," Kim said. "For sports events, only those who have completed vaccination can enter the venues. Indoor games can fill 20 percent of their capacity, outdoor games, 30 percent."
Quarantine officials explained that up to 250 people could attend weddings and have meals. In addition, in areas under the Level 3 scheme, restaurants and cafes can extend their business hours from the current 10 p.m. to midnight.
"We hope that this will be our last extension of social distancing so that we can start a gradual return to normalcy in November," Kim said.
Prime Minister Kim requested the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU) to withdraw from the general strike planned for Oct. 20.
"The general strike will be dangerous, betraying the expectations of the public who are eager to recover their daily life," Kim said. "For communal safety, I earnestly request that the leadership of the KCTU decide to withdraw from the walkout plan."
The country added 1,684 Covid-19 cases, including 1,670 local infections, raising the total caseload to 339,361, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Eight more people died from the virus, raising the death toll to 2,626 with a fatality rate of 0.77 percent.
Korea has vaccinated 40,242,429 people – 11,098,766 with the AstraZeneca vaccine, 21,311,630 with Pfizer's vaccine, 1,464,291 with Janssen's vaccine, 6,313,984 with Moderna's vaccine – with the first shot of the vaccine up 53,758 from the previous day. The figure accounts for 78.4 percent of the total population.