In the third week, 400 people, cherry blossoms bloomed… Prohibition of 5 people, extension of distance by 2 weeks

The government is extending quarantine measures for two weeks, such as the current social distancing (Secondary metropolitan area, 1.5 non-metropolitan areas) and banning private gatherings with more than 5 people. The basic quarantine rules were reinforced so that libraries and kids cafes always adhere to rules such as wearing a mask and creating an access list regardless of the stage of distancing.

At the regular briefing held on the 26th, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (the main script) announced the’social distance adjustment plan’. The quarantine authorities decided that the current distance, which was scheduled to end on the 28th, until April 11th, taking into account the situation where the third corona19 epidemic continues in the metropolitan area, large-scale group infections occurred in some local public baths, such as Gyeongsangnam-do, and the increase in the amount of movement on weekends in the spring. I decided to extend it by two weeks.

The ban on private gatherings with more than 5 people is also maintained. However, it was decided to apply exceptions to cohabitation, immediate family members, mutual meetings, and infants, as in the previous case. Due to the extended operating hours, entertainment facilities, restaurants and cafes, indoor sports facilities, and singing practice areas in the metropolitan area cannot be opened after 10 pm.

Tae-ho Yoon, head of quarantine prevention at the Central Accident Control Headquarters, said at a briefing that day, “We have decided to extend the current steps of distancing and major quarantine measures by two weeks in order to smoothly progress vaccinations and prevent the 4th outbreak.”

According to the script, the number of new patients with Corona 19 per day has been stagnant with 300 to 400 patients for 10 consecutive weeks since the 3rd week of January (17-23). This week (20-26), the average daily number of patients in Korea was 414.3, reaching 428.3 in 2 weeks in March and 415.9 in 3 weeks, reaching 400 for 3 consecutive weeks. Weekend travel is also on the rise. According to the script, the amount of weekend movement that has continued to increase since the second week of January is close to the level of last November, just before the third epidemic. The number of movements on the weekend from November 14 to 15 last year decreased to 7403 million cases on the weekend of January 9 to 10 this year, but increased to 64.38 million cases last weekend (March 20-21).

The quarantine authorities reinforce basic quarantine rules, which must be followed at all times, regardless of stage, while maintaining the level of distance. In addition to the existing 24 types of priority management facilities and general management facilities, 9 sports venues (viewing), casinos, bicycle racing, racing, racecourses, art galleries, museums, libraries, kids cafes, exhibitions and fairs, international conferences, massage businesses, and massage parlors I made them follow the basic rules.

Previously, there were 4 basic quarantine rules, but this will increase to 7. ▶Obligation to wear a mask ▶Management of the attendant list ▶Periodic disinfection and ventilation ▶Prohibition of food intake ▶Confirmation of symptoms and restrictions on access ▶Designation and operation of a quarantine manager ▶Posting and guidance on prevention rules and personnel In particular, you should always follow these rules, regardless of your distancing stage. In the case of access lists, electronic access lists have been mandated mainly for entertainment facilities, but manual writing is prohibited as they are extended to all multi-use facilities. It is not allowed to write only one representative in the group, so you must fill out all of them. It is applied immediately after a one-week period from the 29th to the 4th of April.

Sohn Young-rae, head of the social strategy group, Jung Soo-bon, said, “In general multi-use facilities such as libraries and movie theaters that are not intended for meals (regardless of the stage of distancing), eating and drinking is prohibited. It is difficult and the restaurant is not clearly separated into a separate space, so it is possible to eat food, and the international conference hall also has long meetings, so it is possible to eat food.”

In principle, eating and drinking is prohibited in movie theaters, but it can be eaten outside of the theaters registered as restaurants.
As for the martial arts, it was decided to strengthen quarantine management like Collatek, and apply rules such as limiting one person per 8㎡ of facility area and maintaining a distance of 1m or more.

Special quarantine measures were also prepared for spring outings. The government will set the quarantine intensive management period from 27th to April 30th according to the cherry blossoms, etc., and will intensively inspect major natural parks, recreational forests, arboretums, temples, amusement parks, amusement parks, and local festival grounds across the country. .

If you are going on a trip, it is recommended to go to a place as close as possible. Group tours were refrained, but in case of unavoidable group tours, a representative or a leader was designated as a quarantine manager to perform responsible quarantine management, and regional festivals were requested to refrain from hosting.

The quarantine authorities will strengthen quarantine management during travel such as transportation and multi-use facilities, and take strict measures in accordance with relevant laws and regulations when chartered bus users engage in activities such as dancing or singing on the bus.

It was recommended to install prohibition lines and operate one-way streets on major trails such as natural parks, recreation forests, amusement parks, and tourist sites, and to refrain from using large bus parking lots. There are also measures to reduce the density, such as recommending a reservation system for accommodation facilities in recreational forests and arboretums, and recommending a limit of the number of passengers (less than 50%) for cable cars.

Meanwhile, the authorities said that the application of the distance reorganization plan is being delayed, and that it is reviewing a plan to apply a pilot from that region after conducting a demand survey focusing on regions where the outbreak is relatively stable.

Reporter Lee Tae-yoon [email protected]