South Korea will remove most pandemic restrictions, including indoor gathering limits, as it slowly wiggles out of an Omicron outbreak officials say is stabilizing.
People will still be required to wear masks indoors, but authorities could remove an outdoor mask mandate if the coronavirus further slows over the next two weeks, Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol said in a government briefing Friday.
People will be allowed to eat inside movie theaters, religious facilities, bus terminals and train stations starting on April 25.The new measures were announced as the country reported 125,846 new cases of the coronavirus, continuing a weekslong downward trend after infections peaked in mid-March. The country's one-day record was 621,187 on March 17.
Kwon pleaded that people remain vigilant against the virus, saying officials will be forced to tighten social distancing again if the pandemic brings another huge wave of infections. Omicron has forced South Korea to abandon a stringent COVID-19 response based on mass laboratory tests, aggressive contact tracing and quarantines to focus limited medical resources on high-risk groups, including people 60 and older and those with preexisting medical conditions.
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