The government said Wednesday that it would run a pilot project, allowing sick or injured workers in six localities to rest and receive part of their income as sick pay from July 4.

The six areas are Jongro-gu in Seoul, Bucheon in Gyeonggi Province, Cheonan in South Chungcheong Province, Suncheon in South Jeolla Province, Pohang in North Gyeongsang Province, and Changwon in South Gyeongsang Province. The government will implement the project for a year.

Sick allowance guarantees a certain income level so that workers can focus on treatment while resting when it is difficult to work due to illness or injury.

Sick pay is a system first introduced in Germany in 1883. According to health officials, all Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, except for Korea and the U.S. (except for some states, currently operate a sick pay system, which was first introduced in Germany in 1883.

Those hospitalized due to Covid-19 in Suncheon and Changwon will be able to receive sick pay if the government decides to maintain the quarantine obligation of confirmed Covid-19 patients, which is currently seven days, for more than three days.

Health authorities will decide whether to lift the quarantine obligation for confirmed patients at a Central Disaster Management Headquarters (CDMH) meeting Friday.

Considering the purpose of the pilot project, the government plans to divide these six local governments into three groups, apply a model with different coverage and pay standards, and compare and analyze the effects to find the most suitable system for Korea, according to the CDMH.

The government has set a waiting period from the start of the day off due to illness or injury to the start date of sick pay to prevent abuse cases.

During the pilot project, the daily sick pay will be 43,960 won ($34), equivalent to 60 percent of this year's minimum wage.

The government expects that the introduction of the sick pay will serve as an opportunity to create a culture of taking a leave of absence when sick and create an institutional safety net for workers who cannot rest even when they are ill due to concerns about their income.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare has set the target date for introducing sick pay in 2025.

"We are reviewing a pilot project in three stages, and we plan to complete a nationwide system model through a three-year trial period," said Son Young-rae, head of the social strategy division at CDMH. "When we complete the first-phase pilot project to some extent, we will devise the second-phase pilot project plan after evaluation."

The government will continue to consider various measures other than sick pay so that Korea can become a society where people can take a leave of absence when they are sick, Son added.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency reported that Korea added 9,435 Covid-19 cases, including 104 from overseas, bringing the total to 18,248,479.

While overseas infections jumped to a three-digit number for the first time in almost 100 days, authorities believe that the increased figure is due to the lifting of the mandatory seven-day self-quarantine period for all international arrivals, which started last week.

The country added nine Covid-19 deaths. As a result, the death toll reached 24,399, and the fatality rate stood at 0.13 percent.

The number of critically ill patients came to 93, down from 98 the previous day.

As of Wednesday, 44.61 million, or 86.9 percent of the population, had completed the full two-dose vaccinations, and 33.34 million, representing 64.9 percent, had received their first booster shots. More than 4.28 million people, or 8.3 percent of the population, had gotten their second booster shots, the KDCA said.