Chungnam Province Conducts Comprehensive Survey and Checks Quarantine Guidelines for Church On-site Worship Services

[Asia Economy (Naepo) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Chungnam Province will conduct a full survey on the status of worship services held by local churches in the cities and counties under its jurisdiction and will focus on inspecting compliance with quarantine guidelines at churches holding on-site worship services.

The province announced on the 26th that on the 29th, the province and the cities and counties will jointly conduct a focused inspection of Sunday worship services and check the compliance status of quarantine guidelines at all local churches.

This full inspection targets a total of 3,148 churches in the region. Among them, 1,662 churches have recently stopped holding on-site worship services where congregants gather and are conducting worship online or through other means. However, it has been identified that 1,486 churches have continued on-site worship services until last week.

In this regard, the province and the cities and counties plan to focus inspections on local churches maintaining on-site worship services, checking ▲ whether symptomatic workers and temperature check logs are maintained ▲ whether infection control officers are designated and visitor lists are managed ▲ whether worshippers wear masks ▲ whether hand sanitizers are provided ▲ whether a 2-meter distance between worshippers is maintained ▲ whether disinfection and ventilation are conducted before and after worship ▲ and whether group meals after worship are prohibited.

Additionally, during the inspection process, administrative orders prohibiting gatherings and assemblies (with fines up to 3 million KRW for violations) will be issued to churches that do not comply with quarantine guidelines, and in the event that confirmed cases occur due to violation of the guidelines, claims for monetary compensation (reimbursement rights) for treatment and quarantine costs will be enforced.

Previously, the province sent letters requesting cooperation from the local religious community to strengthen social distancing and has been implementing operational restrictions on religious facilities with high infection risks due to their operational nature.

A provincial official emphasized, “To block community infections and restore daily life, all worship services and religious events should be refrained from until the 5th of next month, and social distancing quarantine guidelines must be followed.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.