South Korea has decided to lower the tough virus curbs in place across the country since late August on views that the numbers of cases are slowing; the country's prime minister said Sunday, Yonhap reported.
The country designated two weeks ending that day as a special period for an intensive antivirus campaign; due to concerns; that new virus cases may resurge after back-to-back holidays; including a three-day Chuseok fall harvest holiday finish.
The country imposed the Level 2 social distancing measures, the second-highest on a three-tier system; in late August as cases spiked following a holiday and a mass rally that took place in central Seoul.
Social distancing is a public health practice that aims to prevent sick people from coming in close contact with healthy people in order to reduce opportunities for disease transmission. It can include large-scale measures like canceling group events or closing public spaces; as well as individual decisions such as avoiding crowds.
With COVID-19, the goal of social distancing right now is to slow down the outbreak in order to reduce the chance of infection among high-risk populations and to reduce the burden on health care systems and workers. Experts describe this as "flattening the curve;" which generally refers to the potential success of social distancing measures to prevent surges in illness that could overwhelm health care systems.