Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun on Monday asked for the public's continued patience with state measures against COVID-19, adding that authorities could potentially loosen social distancing measures ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.

"After monitoring this week's developments, we will carefully review additional easing of antivirus measures if we have the confidence that the situation has definitely stabilized," Chung said during an interagency meeting on the COVID-19 response held at the government complex in Seoul.

Chung made the comments amid the government's decision on Sunday to extend tougher social distancing measures for another two weeks, as it is wary of a pileup in cluster infections ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday, which falls on Feb. 11-13.

The move, aimed at helping the country smoothly begin COVID-19 vaccinations next month and start the school spring semester in March, however, has drawn fierce protest from the small business community hit hard by prolonged restrictions from state and local virus measures.

Chung said authorities have "gone to great pains in deciding the distancing rule extension," knowing well the complaints from the small business community. "We hope that (the public) will trust the government and cooperate with antivirus measures with patience," Chung said.

The prime minister also instructed officials to come up with a new virus response strategy that would ensure the formation of collective herd immunity under stable conditions, as the country moves to begin public coronavirus inoculations later this month.

Chung stressed that the new strategy should thoroughly reflect the voices of the small business community and self-employed people suffering from the pandemic. (Yonhap)