Restaurant cafe business hours extended from 9:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. Private meetings are limited to 6 people.

From February 19th, the government decided to extend the business hours limit for restaurants and cafes from 9 pm to 10 pm by one hour.

This policy change came amid 109,831 confirmed cases per day in Korea as of 00:00 on February 18 for the first time since the Corona 19 incident due to the Omicron mutation pandemic.

Prime Minister Kim Bu-gyeom announced on the 18th at a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters presided over at the government complex in Seoul, "The business hours limit, which had the greatest demand for improvement at the workplace, will be adjusted from 9:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m."

Instead, the limit of the number of private gatherings was maintained at 'up to 6 people'. This distance adjustment plan will be applied for about three weeks from February 19th to March 13th.

Initially, a plan to ease the restrictions to '8 people, 10 o'clock' was strongly discussed, but in consideration of the recent surge in the epidemic, the government kept the limit of private gatherings at 6 people, but extended the business hours only to 10 pm for one hour. In consideration of the presidential election, the period of application of the new distance was set until March 13, three weeks later.

Prime Minister Kim Bu-gyeom said, “According to experts, the corona virus is expected to peak around the end of February to mid-March. When it is confirmed that the spread has passed the peak, Korea, like other countries, will ease distances in earnest so that people can return to their precious daily lives’, he said.

The youth quarantine pass, which was planned to be applied from March 1, has been delayed by one month and will be implemented from April 1.

Reporter Lee Jieun