South Korea Widens Vaccine Pass Requirement

SEOUL—South Korea announced connected Friday that radical visiting restaurants and cinemas and different nationalist spaces volition person to amusement vaccine passes, amid a surge successful COVID-19 infections and six confirmed cases of the Omicron variant.

The authorities besides re-imposed limits connected backstage gatherings, which had been precocious relaxed, arsenic the state posted grounds numbers of caller cases this week.

Desperate to fend disconnected the Omicron variant, authorities halted quarantine exemptions connected Friday for afloat vaccinated inbound travelers and made a 10-day quarantine mandatory.

From adjacent Monday, radical visiting 14 designated nationalist spaces, including hospitality and amusement venues, volition person to amusement their vaccine passes, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum told a COVID-19 effect meeting, mounting retired the program to trim the hazard of assemblage spread. The nationalist volition person a grace play of a week to get utilized to the caller rules.

While radical person been required to amusement their vaccine walk astatine high-risk venues specified arsenic gyms, saunas and bars, it is the archetypal clip that the request has been extended to restaurants and cafes.

From February, anyone aged 12 years oregon older volition person to amusement a vaccination pass. The authorities decided to little the exemption age, presently acceptable astatine 17 years, to promote teenagers to get vaccinated arsenic the under-18 property radical accounts for 20 percent of each infections, Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol told a briefing.

The bounds connected backstage gatherings was chopped to six radical successful the greater Seoul area, and 8 outside, from the existent bounds of 10 successful Seoul and 12 outside, Kwon said.

South Korea has confirmed astatine slightest six Omicron cases aft a afloat vaccinated mates tested affirmative for the variant aft arriving past week from Nigeria. The patients are either asymptomatic oregon person mild symptoms specified arsenic headache, low-grade fever, dizziness and sore throat, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.

Health authorities successful Incheon metropolis were investigating 400 radical who attended a religion work on with the household subordinate of 1 of the radical infected with Omicron. The comparative had tested affirmative for coronavirus, but tests had yet to amusement whether it was the Omicron variant.

People bash not person to amusement impervious of vaccination for spiritual services, weddings, funerals, oregon erstwhile they sojourn taxable parks oregon hairsbreadth salons, the wellness ministry said.

KDCA reported 4,944 COVID-19 cases for Thursday, a flimsy diminution from grounds precocious 5,266 cases connected Wednesday. It has reported a full of 462,555, with 3,739 deaths overall.

South Korea has afloat vaccinated 91.6 percent of its big colonisation aged 18 and over. The booster dose uptake is astatine 8.1 percent.

By Sangmi Cha