The government decided Saturday to lower social distancing levels by one notch each for the greater Seoul area and the other regions next week, but kept tight vigilance to curb COVID-19 by retaining a ban on gatherings of five people or more.
  
Health authorities said that starting Monday, they plan to lower social distancing guidelines to Level 2 -- the third highest in a five-tier system -- for the greater Seoul area and Level 1.5 for other regions until Feb. 28.
  
They will also ease restrictions on restaurants, cafes, gyms and other public facilities in the Seoul metropolitan area to allow them to operate for one more hour until 10 p.m., amid complaints by pandemic-hit small business operators.
  
Entertainment facilities across the nation will also be allowed to operate until 10 p.m. on condition that they abide by key antivirus rules, such as wearing masks and keeping distance among their clients.
  
The authorities, however, decided to keep the ban on gatherings of five or more people, though it does not apply to private reunions of immediate family members regardless of whether they live together or not.
  
"It is a decision that we made while adhering faithfully to principles but in consideration of public fatigue," Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said during a session of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters.

"We also decided to ease restrictions on small merchants and other businesses who have cooperated with antivirus efforts despite the excruciating pains," he added, stressing the difficulty finding the optimal "balance between the anti-virus fight and livelihoods."
  
Under the latest adjustment, some 480,000 facilities in the Seoul metropolitan area, such as private educational institutes and theaters, will be freed from any restrictions on their operation hours.
  
In other areas, 520,000 facilities, like eateries, cafes and indoor gyms, will be allowed to remain open without any curbs on their hours.
  
The defense ministry decided to relax distancing rules in the military for two weeks, starting Monday. It plans to allow conscripts to take a leave of absence, though they have to take COVID-19 tests and undergo other precautionary steps upon returning to their bases.
  
On Nov. 27, the ministry temporarily stopped troops from going on leave, with a few exceptions, in line with strengthened antivirus efforts by the government.
  
"Within the confines of our antivirus capabilities, including testing capacity within the military, we will allow troops to go on leave," the ministry said.
  
The easing of social distancing rules came amid growing public discontent over the prolonged imposition of tough virus curbs, which led to closures of many small businesses, such as cafes and eateries, with some defiant merchants pushing for legal action.
  
Chung cautioned against complacency.
  
"We are in a situation where we can never rest assured as daily infection tallies are in the 300-400 range," he said.
  
The health authorities also warned that should an upward infection trajectory reemerge, they might have to raise social distancing levels.
  
"The latest adjustment is an inevitable decision in consideration of regular citizens' economic difficulties and social fatigue due to the protracted COVID-19 situation," Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol told a press briefing.

"If a trend of the third virus wave spreading again appears, we cannot help but revise upwards the social distancing levels again,"
he added.
  
Regarding the country's vaccination process slated to begin on Feb. 26, the prime minister said that the government is exhaustively verifying the safety and effectiveness of vaccines to be rolled out here.
  
On Saturday, the country reported 362 more COVID-19 cases, including 345 local infections, raising the total caseload to 83,199, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. It added seven fatalities, bringing the accumulative death toll to 1,514. (Yonhap)