South Korea’s decision to move ahead with reopening counts on people voluntarily eschewing social activities while complying with other measures, such as wearing face masks.

Korea carried out 11,446 tests on Wednesday and confirmed 125 more cases of the novel coronavirus -- 108 local and 17 imported -- according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s updates. The cumulative number of cases is 27,050.

The baseline for daily local infections has risen to over 100 from the double digits in early October, when stricter restrictions were in place.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare’s spokesperson Son Young-rae said in Thursday’s closed-door briefing that infections were being increasingly traced to small gatherings among friends, family and acquaintances in communities.

“Threats of large-scale transmissions are no longer limited to high-risk places. They are everywhere,” he said.

Son said the “everyday aspect” of such smaller infection clusters made it harder for the authorities to manage them -- which is why the public’s voluntary compliance with coronavirus precautions was a critical component of containment efforts.

After social distancing restrictions were lifted nationally since mid-October, most parts of Korea have either expanded or mandated the use of face masks in public.

The majority of Koreans abide by that rule, according to an October survey led by public health communications professor Yoo Myoung-soon of Seoul National University.

Yoo said 92.5 percent of 1,000 adults surveyed Oct. 27-29 said they “always” wore face masks when in public places. The last four rounds of surveys conducted between March and June also found that between 93.3 and 96.3 percent said they had consistently worn face masks in the past week.

Respiratory disease specialist Dr. Chun Eun-mi of western Seoul’s Ewha University Medical Center says face masks are one of the best ways of preventing the spread of the coronavirus while cures and vaccines are still in the works.

“Face mask wearers not only protect those around them. They are also less likely to fall seriously sick when around an infected person,” she said.

Chun added that the already commonplace use of face masks probably helped Korea avoid the kind of explosive outbreaks seen elsewhere.

Meanwhile, another workplace outbreak forced Cheonan and Asan, two adjacent cities in South Chungcheong Province, to restore restrictions starting Thursday at 6 p.m.

The municipal authorities said at least 21 out of 75 workers at a call center in a Cheonan neighborhood tested positive for the disease, with 166 more identified as close contacts put under quarantine.

Since Monday, three Seoul-based companies have also reported cases among employees. Investigations so far revealed dining together was how the infections spread among co-workers.

In places where wearing face masks and keeping apart are hard to observe, other customized measures could be adopted, according to preventive medicine specialist Dr. Ki Moran of Korean Society of Epidemiology.

“Installing shields between tables or limiting the number of persons per square meter are some of the ways that can make risk-prone situations safer.”

Infectious disease specialist Dr. Choi Won-suk of Korea University Medical Center in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, said it was important to note easing out of restrictions was a decision borne out of other socioeconomic necessities rather than lowered risks of contagion.

“Practicing social distancing where you can is still critical as ever,” he said.

“Steps such as wearing face masks or putting two meters between you and another person are not foolproof. But they can increase your chances of staying healthy,” he said. “At this point, the goal is not about eradicating the risks, but trying to reduce them as much as possible.”

By Kim Arin (arin@heraldcorp.com)