South Korean Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun on Saturday urged South Koreans to refrain from visiting public facilities – such as restaurants, bars, indoor gyms and religious gatherings – in the next two weeks to curb the spread of COVID-19.

“Stronger self-isolation is unavoidable to contain the virus and to restore peaceful everyday life to our children,” Chung said in a statement, noting the government will force noncompliant facility operators to close down their shops and disband public gatherings that block efforts to combat COVID-19.

Chung, who advised people to stay indoors as long as possible and to cancel or postpone gatherings, asked people to follow all the recommended precautions such as wearing face masks the keeping a safe distance from each other to avoid mass infections.

Chung reaffirmed that the government stands ready to exhaust all avenues to combat COVID-19 as the country prepares to reopen schools in early April after a series of postponements because of a surge in infections. Schools will reopen, he said. Korea reported nearly 9,000 infections with 104 deaths as of Saturday.

By Choi Si-young (siyoungchoi@heraldcorp.com)