 |
| At 2 pm on the 6th, 9 PT, Pilates, boxing, and gym owners gathered in front of the Incheon City Hall office in Namdong-gu, Incheon, and went on a demonstration. They argued that the government’s ban on grouping indoor sports facilities would be against equity, and insisted that “restrictions should be lifted so that they can be operated until 9 p.m.” 2020.1.6/News1 © News1 Reporter Aron Park |
The government’s response to quarantine without principles has increased social confusion again. This is because, in the process of extending social distancing, the government decided to come up with a supplementary plan again as controversy over the operational equity between indoor sports facilities arose.
Experts evaluate the current government’s response to quarantine as a rag-type, which only fixes that part if a problem occurs. In particular, it is pointed out that if the operation of the gym is resumed this time, controversy over equity in another industry will inevitably arise, so the target of quarantine should be changed by behavior and environment, not by industry.
According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters on the 7th, indoor sports facilities are the areas where the improvement of equity by applying the quarantine rules is considered. Although the quarantine authorities recently allowed the operation of Taekwondo for reasons such as caring for children, the issue of equity broke out as the operation of a gym, a similar facility, was banned.
As the controversy grew, Prime Minister Jeong Sye-gyun ordered the improvement of equity for the quarantine standards for indoor sports facilities at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters meeting on the 6th. Prime Minister Chung said, “It is a standard that the government has set after consideration, but if it is not accepted in the field, it must be supplemented,” he said. “The implementation and practice are more important than the standard itself.”
As a result of this, the quarantine authorities’ complementary measures have been discussed, such as the application of differentials by region according to the number of confirmed cases, but has not been decided yet. Rather, the problem is that the same problem occurs in other industries if the currently banned gym is allowed to resume operation. Even in the cafe quarantine rules that only allowed delivery and packaging, the exception to brunch cafes is that it is possible to eat in-store, creating confusion.
However, according to the government’s quarantine regulations, restrictions on indoor multi-use facilities cannot be lifted together. Rather, the quarantine authorities have repeatedly stressed the importance of quarantine over the next one to two weeks, analyzing that the effects of social distancing will appear modest.
Excluding foreign inflows, the number of domestic corona19 confirmed daily was 833.6 on average per week as of 0 o’clock on the 6th, decreasing by 30.8 from the previous day, showing a gradual decline. However, it is too early to rest assured that it meets the daily average range of 800 to 1000 people, which is the 3rd step of distance for the 22nd after 0 o’clock on December 16th.
As long as the distance setting standards set by the government, the operation of a Taekwondo gym or a gym is possible only in the second stage of distance. The standard for the second stage of distancing is the case where the national average of 300 or more and 400 to 500 or less per day is different from the current situation.
Therefore, experts insist that social distancing standards and quarantine targets should be refined again. It is an analysis that simple collective quarantine methods such as differential by industry and region have reached the limit of social acceptance.
Kim Woo-joo, a professor of infectious medicine at Kodae Guro Hospital, said, “It is a natural part to raise the issue of equity in the gym.” said.
He added, “The current government’s distancing has changed like a rag while adding and adjusting the quarantine content,” he said. “It should be considered that the 5th stage distancing has failed as the third pandemic began with 1,000 confirmed cases per day this winter.”
Accordingly, the necessity to reorganize the distance setting also increased. The government also pointed out that there is a difference between the standard set in the past and the current quarantine environment as to the reason why the domestic daily average confirmed patients meet the range of the three-stage distance standard and do not adjust upward.
Professor Kim Woo-joo said, “It seems the first problem is that the operation is restricted by industry,” he said. “Even within the same industry, it is possible to operate in a business that prevents quarantine such as reducing the number of seats and relocating seats. “You have to separate it so that it is closed,” he explained.
In addition, “The gym should also be qualitatively classified as risk by action rather than closing or opening the door unconditionally. In the case of yoga and strength training, a small number of people are allowed to use after wearing a mask, and violent exercise such as Zumba is prohibited. It makes sense,” he said.
 |
| © News1 Designer Ilhwan Kim |