South Korea and Jakarta to ease Covid curbs

Seoul

SOUTH Korea will relax some rules on social distancing from Monday, allowing nightspots to re-open and spectators to attend sports events, after new coronavirus cases edged lower in recent weeks, authorities said. The Indonesian capital of Jakarta also plans to kick off a two-week "transitional" period of eased coronavirus curbs from Monday.

Daily infections in South Korea have fallen largely into the double-digit range in the past two weeks, down from 440 during outbreaks at a church and a political rally in August that prompted clampdowns on gatherings and some businesses.

"We will lower the level of social distancing nationwide but maintain controls on risk factors such as the door-to-door sales industry," Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun told a meeting on Sunday.

"Many citizens are feeling fatigue over prolonged distancing, and we also took its negative impact on the economy into consideration."

The relaxation means places of entertainment, such as nightclubs, karaoke bars and buffets can re-open, and audiences of up to 30 per cent of stadium capacity will be allowed at sports matches as long as they comply with anti-virus guidelines. But high-risk activities such as door-to-door sales businesses and small religious gatherings remain banned, with new limits on guests and spacing at nightspots and indoor sport venues in the heavily populated Seoul area,.

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Of the new cases, 46 were domestically transmitted, most of them in the greater Seoul region, where small clusters continue to emerge from churches, door-to-door sales firms and medical institutions.

Jakarta, a city of about 11 million in South-east Asia's largest economy, re-imposed tougher social restrictions from mid-September, after a spurt in virus infections put stress on its health services.

But it will now allow non-essential businesses to work from offices, but making use only of half their capacity, while dine-in customers at restaurants are also limited to 50 per cent of capacity.

Parks and museums will start opening with some curbs, while all businesses have to follow a strict hygiene protocol and keep data on their visitors for contact tracing purposes.

Indonesia's nationwide tally stood at 328,952 infections, with 11,765 deaths by Saturday, with Jakarta accounting for 85,617 cases and 1,877 deaths. REUTERS