사회적 거리두기 2주동안 2단계로 완화<br /><br />The South Korean government announced this afternoon that it's easing the social distancing measures in the Seoul region... now that the number of daily cases has come down.<br />Starting Monday, we'll be going from level 2-point-5 to back to level 2, which means restaurants can serve customers after 9 PM, and cafes can let people eat and drink inside the shop.<br />Our Kim Yeon-seung has this report.<br />South Korea on Sunday confirmed another one-hundred-21 cases of COVID-19.<br />Of those, 99 are local infections, and most of them are in the capital region.<br />There have also been fewer than two hundred for the past 11 days.<br />This has prompted the authorities to lower the heightened level 2-point-5 distancing measures to level 2 in the greater Seoul area.<br />The new measures take effect Monday and will continue for the next two weeks.<br />But the Korean thanksgiving holiday of Chuseok, starting in late September, poses risks... because it's a time when millions of Koreans typically travel all throughout the country.<br />So Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said during a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters... that the two weeks starting from September 28th will be a 'special quarantine period.'<br />He did not specify exactly what that means, but he did say that it will include strong prevention measures.<br />The Prime Minister Chung also urged people to show understanding for the more than 20-thousand people in South Korea who've contracted the virus.<br />Even when people recover from the virus, many of them are left with an emotional burden because society brands them with a scarlet letter. Anyone can be infected with COVID-19, so please put yourself in their shoes.<br />With the strictest rules lifted, customers can now eat and drink inside cafes,... and in restaurants even after 9 PM.<br />Gatherings indoors are still limited to fewer than 50 people, and outdoors fewer than a hundred.<br />For people in the Seoul area, it's a big step towards returning to normal life.<br />Kim Yeon-seung, Arirang News.<br />
