Moon Jae-in, the president, on Monday admitted the omicron spike was “unpredictable” and a “grim reality” but encouraged the public not to be alarmed, reported the Korea Times.

“We need to be alert, but we don’t need to have excessive fear,” he said. “If we control severely ill patients, the fatality rate and medical response capability, we can successfully overcome this critical moment.”

The policy shift contrasts sharply with the ongoing “zero Covid” strategy of neighbouring China and Hong Kong, which is doubling down on its strict quarantine rules, despite the damage to its reputation as an Asian business hub.

A new report by Chinese researchers has suggested restoring normal population mobility in largely Covid-free regions like China would cause some two million deaths a year, advocating for better vaccines to prevent infections. 

The report’s conclusion, published last Friday in the weekly bulletin of the China Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, illustrates the growing gulf between cautious Asian capitals and countries like Denmark, Australia and the UK, which have abandoned restrictions to “learn to live” with Covid-19.

Seoul’s new strategy will straddle the two approaches, keeping border quarantines, mask mandates and social distancing rules including a 9pm curfew for restaurants and a six-person limit on private gatherings.

The move to scrap the test and trace system has received an anxious welcome from the public – sheltered but also fatigued by two years of heavy restrictions on socialising and business operations.

“It’s taken too much of a toll on the people,” said video editor Ji Min Hyuk, 27. “I think we need to do it like how they are doing it overseas, opening things back up to normal hours.”

Graphic designer, Noh Hye Eun 26, said it was reasonable to ask infected people to isolate at home if strict measures still prevented them from freely mixing with others.

“Many people are just thinking their time will come eventually of being infected,” he said. “The whole nation just seems tired of all this. I think most will agree with [the decision] even with the risks it may bring.”

Medical professionals have backed the government’s new strategy but urged it to tread slowly.

“This is a critical step, and it is important to do it in a way that allows you to make assessments and corrections, if necessary,” said Dr Jerome Kim, the director general of the International Vaccine Institute in Seoul.

“The next step is to minimize impact: keep people out of hospitals, keep people out of ICUs, keep people from dying,” he said, adding that exposure should still be controlled through masks and self-isolation.

Experts will be keeping a close eye on ICU occupancy in coming weeks. A recent surge in cases has not been matched by a worrying influx to the ICU, with reports at the weekend pointing to a 17 per cent rate nationwide.

But Dr Kim added: “It will be important to know if there is a tipping point here – if two weeks from now the ICU percentage is much higher, assuming a 10 to 14-day lag.”

Strong vaccination rates among the elderly had helped lower hospitalisations, but medication – and possibly a new vaccine or booster against future variants – would play an important role in continuing to do so, he said.

Park Su Hyun, a spokesperson at the Korean Medical Association, said that while doctors understood the government’s decision, it had not given the health system enough time to plan and adjust.

“The KMA has just been notified of the new measure without prior notice. There is too much confusion for the medical staff on the frontline,” he said.

He cautioned against premature talk of achieving “herd immunity,” which is reentering public discourse.

“Right now, we are on the verge of seeing 40,000 new daily cases which is unprecedented in Korea. We can’t say for certain that going to a stage of living with the virus will be the right one,” he said.

While Omicron had not so far overloaded the health system, a new, more serious variant could change the calculation.

“If there is another critical variant which also rapidly increases new cases, there will be a time where new strict measures will be needed,” he said.

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