Private meetings with more than 5 people are prohibited for 2 more weeks…exceptions allowed
Up to 8 people for mutual meetings, immediate family, and infant/children
Metropolitan public baths are restricted from operation after 10:00 pm
‘The Hyundai Seoul’, a department store that opened in Yeouido, is crowded with citizens enjoying shopping for the holiday season on March 1. Recently, as people crowded into shopping facilities including department stores, it was pointed out that distance distancing was not properly observed. News 1
Meetings for marriage, first-birth parties, immediate family members, or with infants and children are allowed to meet up to 8 people starting next week. Couples can take their children and visit their parents’ homes in their hometown. The existing ban on meetings of more than 5 people will be extended for the next two weeks, but the quarantine authorities have decided to grant exceptions if necessary due to social wisdom. In addition, multi-use facilities frequently used in daily life, such as department stores, restaurants, and academies, undergo quarantine inspection starting next week, and if it is judged that the risk is high, the Corona 19 test is conducted.
‘2 infants + 5 adults’ is not allowed…up to 4 people over 6 years old
At a regular briefing on the 12th, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters announced measures to strengthen social distancing and quarantine for the next two weeks, including these contents. The current distancing, which is the second stage in the metropolitan area and the 1.5 stage in the non-metropolitan area, will continue until the 28th of this month, and the ban on meetings with more than 5 people will be maintained. The decision was made in consideration of the fact that the average number of new confirmed cases per day for 8 weeks from the third week of January is stagnating in the 300-400 range.
However, some adjustments apply. The biggest change is the exception of meetings, first birthday parties, immediate family gatherings, and gatherings with infants under the age of six to allow up to eight people. Up to 4 people are allowed for gatherings with infants except under 6 years old (no more than 5 people except for infants and young children). For example, 2 infants and 5 adults cannot gather together. Even if you do not live together, you can gather up to 8 people if you fall under the direct line due to family relations. It means that 8 members of the immediate family, based on the person who organizes the meeting, can perform rituals, turns, and birthday celebrations together.
As a result, it is possible to operate a first-birthday specialty store, which has been virtually restricted due to the ban on meetings of more than 5 people. However, as with weddings and funerals, the number of people in each stage of distancing (less than 100 people in the second stage) and quarantine rules must be followed.
Inspection of multi-use facilities in the metropolitan area…If the risk is high, full inspection of workers
In addition, separate quarantine inspections are conducted in the metropolitan area. Department stores, hypermarkets, restaurants and cafes, movie theaters and hotels, academies and libraries, direct sales promotion centers, traditional markets, recreation rooms, indoor sports facilities, singing practice areas, religious facilities, and other multi-use facilities frequently used in daily life for two weeks from next week. The ministry in charge decided to check the quarantine situation at once.
Facilities that are judged to have a high risk of infection as a result of the inspection will undergo a full-scale corona 19 test or a periodic preemptive test. If an infection occurs in the future, the test will be extended to users as well. In the course of the inspection, for facilities that are found to violate the quarantine rules, a fine is imposed by notifying the local government. This is a result of growing concerns about the spread of infection as customers have been crowded in some department stores and restaurants recently, and distance is not properly maintained.
In addition, taking into account the high risk of infection, public bathhouses are to be closed at 10:00 p.m. from next week in the metropolitan area, and the restrictions on operating hours for entertainment facilities in the non-metropolitan area will be lifted (restricted after 10:00 for entertainment facilities in the metropolitan area).
The quarantine management of foreign workers’ workplaces where recent cases of group infection have been reported will be strengthened. On-site inspections of 12,000 workplaces that employ 5 or more foreigners or have foreign dormitories are inspected, and environmental specimens are collected in public spaces of workplaces employing 10 or more foreign workers in the metropolitan area and Chungcheong area to test for Corona 19.
75% of confirmed cases are in the metropolitan area…’tweezers quarantine’ for 2 weeks
The reason for implementing such “tweezers prevention” measures in the metropolitan area is that 75% of the recent corona19 confirmed cases came from the metropolitan area. The average number of confirmed cases per day for the last week (6-12 days) is 418.3, which corresponds to 2.5 steps of distance. However, considering that the majority of confirmed cases are concentrated in the metropolitan area, the quarantine authorities decided to further strengthen the quarantine only in the metropolitan area while maintaining the current distancing stage (Section 2 in the metropolitan area, Stage 1.5 in the non-metropolitan area). In the metropolitan area, the daily average number of confirmed cases for a week was 312.9, and 105.4 in the non-metropolitan area.
Tae-ho Yoon, head of the quarantine prevention headquarters at the Central Accident Control Headquarters, said at a regular briefing held that day, “The number of patients in the metropolitan area is stagnating at around 300, but the quarantine and medical response capabilities are judged to be manageable, so the step of distancing is not raised.” We will detect hidden patients early and block the spread of infection through preemptive inspections at the workplace,” he said.
Lim So-hyung reporter [email protected]
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