State-run museums in Seoul have been ordered to shutter once again as the South Korean capital battles another surge in COVID-19 cases.
The National Museum of Korea and the National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art among others have closed their Seoul outposts until at least mid-December. Museums in other regions remain open.
Health minister Park Neung-hoo described the city as a ‘COVID-19 war zone’, with most of the on-average 500 new daily cases originating in the Seoul metropolitan area.
He warned that the uptick in infections would need to be met with robust measures to prevent it from ‘exploding into a major outbreak nationwide and collapsing the healthcare system’.
Alongside museums, gyms and clubs have also been told to close. Restaurants are still allowed to open under the new regulations. Public gatherings have been restricted to 50 people.
