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In Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon, the ban on private gatherings of 5 or more people will be enforced from 0:00 on the 23rd to midnight on January 3, next year. Alumni associations, clubs, outings, year-end parties, workplace banquets and workshops, as well as step-by-step gatherings, housewarmings, first-birthday parties, sixtieth birthdays, and other personal social gatherings are not allowed. From the 24th, the government will expand the measure nationwide.
However, there were many reactions that citizens were ambiguous and confused about the specific cases where the standards for private gatherings are possible and which cases are not.
In particular, if 4 people board the taxi, a total of 5 people including the taxi driver. For this reason, there were many questions, such as’If 4 family members take a taxi, one must walk’, but the taxi is not a’private meeting’, so 5 people including the driver can board.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government said, “As the metropolitan area is closely connected with public transportation as a single living area, we decided to make exceptions in consultation with Gyeonggi and Incheon to prevent confusion among citizens.”
The following is a question and answer from the Seoul Metropolitan Government on the main questions regarding the ban on’private gatherings for more than 5 people’
▶When using transportation such as subway, bus, taxi, etc., is it limited to 4 people including driver?
-The use of transportation is not prohibited by this measure as it does not fall under’private gatherings’ for the purpose of friendship. However, taking into account the characteristics of public transportation used by many citizens and the amount of movement during the year-end and New Year holidays, it is recommended that thorough compliance with quarantine regulations such as wearing a mask and keeping distance is recommended.
▶Is it possible to go to the company to have a meal with 5 or more outsiders after a business meeting or meeting?
-Business meetings at the company are a mandatory management activity of the company and are excluded from the group ban, but meals after the meeting are not included in the company’s essential management activities, so meals with more than 5 people are prohibited.
▶ What is the standard for the company’s office number limit?
-Working in the office of the company cannot be considered a meeting for private purposes, so this measure is not subject to ban. Accordingly, both interviews and meetings can be held while complying with the quarantine rules according to step 2.5 of social distancing regardless of this measure.
▶ What if there are more than 5 employees in the workplace, such as construction sites, marts, and beauty salons? In the case of visiting guests, can I accept it as long as 5 people do not come as a group?
-Employees working in the workplace are not for private purposes and are not prohibited by this measure. In the case of guests, if they visit for private purposes, more than 5 people are prohibited.
▶What if 5 people go to a restaurant and sit at two tables apart from each other?
-This’administrative order prohibiting private gatherings’ for more than 5 people is not a regulation on multi-use facilities, but prohibits’private gatherings’ with more than 5 people, such as alumni associations, clubs, outings, and workplace dinners for the purpose of forming friendship. Even if you sit at two tables in the same restaurant, it is a violation if it falls under a’private meeting’.
▶ Are religious meetings considered private meetings? Is it possible for Christmas services and Mass?
-Religious meetings such as regular worship, mass, and court are not considered private meetings and are therefore excluded from the ban on gatherings of more than 5 people. Measures are applied continuously.
▶What happens if you move?
-In the case of a director, it is difficult to say that it is a’private gathering’, and as a matter not specified in the Seoul Metropolitan Government Notice, the guidelines for step 2.5 of social distancing as before are applied mutatis mutandis.
▶I want to have a small wedding wedding with a family of 9 people in a place other than a wedding hall, such as a hotel room.
-Wedding and funeral ceremonies are, in principle, excluded from this ban because they have the nature of essential social activities, such as congratulations and condolences that are held once in a lifetime, and it is difficult to cancel or postpone due to a fixed time limit. Whether or not a wedding venue is a wedding venue is not a criterion that determines whether or not a ban is prohibited.
▶Does the group ban for more than 5 people include 1 child?
-There is no age limit for the banned, so infants and toddlers are also included as one person. However, daily family life such as △family relations (direct family members on the Family Relations Register) or △people with the same residence according to resident registration gather indoors and outdoors are excluded from’private meetings’ and allowed.
▶ What is the scope of the’family relationship’ that is the exception of the ban on more than 5 people?
-‘Family relationship’ means’immediate family’ on the family relationship register, and can be proved with’family relationship certificate’,’resident registration certificate’, etc.
Reporter Lee Ji-young [email protected]