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With the lifting of the COVID-19 international emergency last week, our government has also moved toward lowering the COVID-19 crisis level. Until now, if you caught COVID-19, you had to quarantine for a week, but that obligation is expected to disappear as early as the end of this month.

This is a report by reporter Nam Joo-hyun.

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The quarantine requirement for people with COVID-2020, which began in January 1, is likely to expire as early as the end of this month.

Based on the results of the Expert Advisory Committee held yesterday (19th) and today's crisis assessment meeting, the quarantine authorities are working on a plan to lower the crisis level and lift the quarantine.

The crisis level will be lowered from "severe" to "alert," and the quarantine mandate, which is currently seven days, will be converted to a recommendation, effectively eliminating it.

According to the government's three-phase timetable unveiled in March, the quarantine period will be shortened from seven to five days and lifted around July, with the intention of combining phases 8 and 7 to accelerate the recovery of daily life.

Removing quarantine requires a process of revising the notice, such as adjusting the infectious disease rating, which takes about three weeks.

As a result, quarantine obligations are expected to disappear as early as the end of this month and early next month at the latest.

It's been over three years and four months since the quarantine obligation came into effect.

[Lee Geun-hwa/Professor, Department of Microbiology, Hanyang University School of Medicine: The COVID-3 pandemic for three years has strengthened our medical capabilities. Even if a new variant of the virus comes out, I think we can respond to it.]

Along with the seven-day quarantine, hospitals, pharmacies and vulnerable facilities are considering lifting mask mandates that remain in vulnerable facilities.

With the exception of minimal measures to protect healthcare providers from COVID-3, starting next month, COVID-7 will be treated as endemic like the flu.

The government will hold a meeting of the Central Disaster Safety Headquarters the day after tomorrow to gather the opinions of various ministries on lowering the crisis level and lifting the quarantine, and finally announce the results of the discussions.

(Video editing by Kim Byung-jik)