People drink and eat outdoors in downtown Seoul on April 23. Korea Times file
By Kim Jae-heun
As Korea is experiencing a resurgence of new Omicron subvariant cases, the local food service industry is deeply concerned that the government could adopt stricter quarantine measures again.
On Thursday, the number of daily new COVID-19 infections reached 39,196, more than double what it was a week earlier.
If the government brings back restrictions on late-night operating hours for multi-use facilities or limitations on the size of private gatherings, restaurants and bar owners worry they will inevitably face losses.
"We just started to see people come out to eat and drink. But because we are seeing a rapid rise in new COVID-19 cases here, I am worried things will go back to where they were a year ago," a restaurant owner surnamed Kim said.
The owner of a bar surnamed Kang said that the situation is worse for small business owners now compared to in 2021 because with time, rent and labor costs have increased, and public utility costs have risen.
On July 1, the government raised electricity and gas fees simultaneously, and it plans to increase the rates again in October. The prices of raw materials such as cooking oil and wheat have risen here partly due to the ongoing war in Ukraine that has inflated food prices around the world.
"Many small business owners will likely go bankrupt and close down their stores in the second half of this year if the current COVID-19 wave and the economic uncertainties continue. The government is pursuing various measures to stabilize living costs here but they are apparently not effective," Kang said.
The daily number of new COVID-19 infections reached 40,266 on Wednesday after surging since the end of June. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) predicts that the number of daily new infections will reach 150,000 by the end of this month if the current trend continues.
Previously, the KDCA had expected another wave of COVID-19 to happen between September and October, but due to the summer holiday season and recently lifted travel restrictions, the trend has come three to four months sooner than anticipated.
The BA.5 subvariant of Omicron is known to have higher transmissibility than previous strains as it substantially evade antibodies induced by the currently available vaccines or previous infections. BA.5 is expected to become the dominant strain in Korea soon, as its percentage of the total number of infections grew to 35 percent last week from 28.2 percent a week earlier.
Adding to concerns, the country confirmed on Thursday its first case of BA.2.75, the heavily mutated Omicron subvariant known as Centaurus.
