South Korea extends COVID-19 restrictions for another month

ANKARA (AA) - South Korea extended its COVID-19 restrictions for another month ahead of a major national holiday, local media reported on Monday.

Health authorities remain cautious about virus resurgence as people will travel during the fall harvest Chuseok holiday, set for Sept. 20-22, Yonhap news agency reported.

Hence, they decided to extend the current social distancing measures – Level 4 in the greater Seoul area, which is the highest in the four-tier system, and Level 3 in other regions – through Oct. 3.

The Southeast Asian country has been banning gatherings of more than four people nationwide, but the revised guidelines allow gatherings of up to six in the capital area.

Restaurants and bars in the greater Seoul area will be allowed to operate until 10 p.m., an hour later than the current restriction of 9 p.m.

With 1,375 new COVID-19 cases and six related deaths in the past 24 hours, the overall caseload in South Korea reached 261,778 including 2,321 fatalities.

Over 30 million people have received their first shots of COVID-19 vaccines, while 17.7 million people have been fully vaccinated.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid