Govt. to ease restriction on business operating hours outside greater Seoul area

The government said Saturday it will allow businesses outside the greater Seoul area to operate until 10 p.m. starting next week, relaxing the distancing rules amid growing discontent over the prolonged virus curbs.

The revised measure will permit businesses like restaurants and fitness clubs to extend their operating hours by one hour under Level 2 distancing currently imposed on the provincial regions, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said in a government response meeting.

"After careful deliberation based on the various opinions from all walks of life, we are adjusting the business hours for publicly used facilities," he said.

More than 580,000 businesses will benefit from the relaxation starting Monday, according to officials.

Chung explained that the government reflected the growing demand from businesses that have taken the brunt of the economic impact from COVID-19, vowing all-out efforts to provide them with assistance.

The 9 p.m. closing will be maintained for Seoul and the surrounding areas.

The measure will not be applied to Gwangju Province in the country's southwest, where a major cluster outbreak has been reported, health officials said. In other regions, the local governments will have the final say on whether to enforce the eased curfew.

"More than 70 percent of the patients are from the Seoul metropolitan area, and the infection risks remain high," Chung said.

Chung urged citizens again not to violate the distancing rules, stressing that any business establishment found to have flouted the restrictions will be suspended for two weeks.

The greater Seoul area is currently under Level 2.5 distancing, the second highest in the five-tier system, and Level 2 for the rest of the country. The measures, effective until Feb. 14, are mainly aimed at banning gatherings of five or more people.

On Saturday, South Korea added 393 more COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, including 366 local infections, raising the cumulative caseload to 80,524, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. (Yonhap)