Surprise COVID-19 ban on travel, gatherings puzzles Koreans

The South Korean government on Wednesday whipped out a new set of restrictions not already part of its COVID-19 playbook, in an effort to tame the surge in infections. As the changes come after the government had said it would not be tightening rules in recent briefings, businesses are taken aback while the public reports confusion.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare said Tuesday that dining in groups of five or more will be prohibited nationwide from Thursday until Jan. 3. Hotels and other accommodation facilities will also be required to accept guests at only 50 percent of capacity. Popular tourist destinations and national parks will be closed.

A day earlier on Tuesday, municipal offices in Seoul and nearby Incheon and Gyeonggi Province said that nonessential gatherings involving five or more people will be banned before Christmas through the New Year’s holiday.

“The adjustments are intended to encourage people to not gather as the holiday season approaches,” said Son Young-rae, a senior official at the ministry.

The new measures are in place of the harshest tier of restrictions in the country’s social distancing system, Son said, to cushion the blow to the economy.

Korea counted 869 more cases of the coronavirus -- 824 locally transmitted and 45 imported -- on Tuesday, with the cumulative total now reaching 51,460. For the last seven days from Dec. 16 to Tuesday, Korea averaged 1,014 daily cases. The top social distancing tier is to be imposed when daily case numbers are between 800 and 1,000.

Following the news, some have reacted with frustration.

A family of five in Jung-gu, central Seoul, said they were at a loss for what to do with their Christmas Eve dinner reservation at a private restaurant.

“We made this reservation over a month ago for our youngest, who just took the college entrance exam. The restaurant says we can’t cancel at this point,” said the father, who is in his 50s.

Another Seoul resident said that COVID-19-related rules seem to be “changing too often.” “It’s too confusing. I don’t know what is considered acceptable behavior anymore,” she said.

Businesses small and large are complaining that the latest round of restrictions has come “abruptly” and “without warning,” leaving them with little time to brace for the impact.

“We understand that the situation is dire. But it would have been nice if there had been a warning in advance. We found out about the additional measures this morning in the news,” said a senior staffer of a major hotel chain.

An owner of a pub in Seoul’s downtown Gwanghwamun said he had been counting on announcements from the government that social distancing restrictions will not be raised to the next tier -- which it didn’t.

But the gatherings ban is even more stringent than what was laid out by social distancing guidelines, as gatherings of up to 10 people would be allowed at Level 3 -- the highest tier.

“I’ve been looking forward to the year-end season, when there are typically more customers. But now I don’t know if (the pub) will be able to last until the ban is lifted,” he said, adding that sales have already gone down by nearly 90 percent compared to last year.

The social distancing decisions appear “arbitrary,” according to a 30-something teacher at a piano academy in Mapo-gu, western Seoul. She said the rules were “unfair.”

“Piano classes are one-on-one, meaning there is one student and one teacher per classroom. I think we are much safer than other places that can still operate,” she said. “I don’t understand based on what standards some are closed and others are not.”

Food outlets such as restaurants, pubs and bars -- which have been cited as bearing high risk of contagion -- are allowed to stay open until 9 p.m. While ski resorts and other winter sports venues have been closed, golf courses are not subject to the same restrictions. 

For the last three weeks her academy was forced to close, and no talk of compensation came from the government, the piano teacher said. Although she has had to close for weeks at a time throughout the year already, she has received just 2 million won ($1,800) in relief funds.

“This is barely enough to cover the monthly rent we have had to pay while we were closed to be honest,” she said.

An official at the Korea Federation of Micro Enterprise said the ban on gatherings seemed to be the government’s way of “achieving a lockdown-like effect without actually shutting down businesses.”

“With the tightened limit on how many people can gather, small businesses are likely to suffer more losses. But technically, they are not forced to close. So I don’t know what this means for their eligibility for loans or relief money,” he said.

In response to press inquiries, the Health Ministry said in Tuesday’s briefing that “discussions are underway among relevant ministries” for ways to support struggling businesses. Some 3 trillion won is planned to be set aside from next year’s budget as relief for small business owners.

But the federation’s official said that was not going to be enough. “There are 3.2 million microenterprises in the country. The budget is enough to give only 1 million won per business,” he said. He added that between 1 million and 2 million won has been handed out to each business throughout the whole year.

To solicit better compliance from the public, social distancing rules should be “simple and easy to understand,” according to infectious disease specialist Dr. Kim Woo-joo.

“People should not have to pore over them, trying to interpret their meanings,” he said. The government’s social distancing guideline, updated in early November, is over 50 pages long.

The frequent revisions also “invited confusion, rather than clarity,” Kim added.

Dr. Jun Byung-yool, who served as director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from 2011 to 2013, warned against the key message of staying socially distanced becoming muddled in the details.

“The important message to take away here I think is to forgo holiday celebrations and rituals that are inevitably associated with social distancing breaches,” he said.

By Kim Arin (arin@heraldcorp.com)