Daegu City Issues "Emergency Administrative Order to Prohibit Gathering at Entertainment Venues for 2 Weeks" (Update)

Daegu City Bans Gatherings for 2 Weeks Starting 11th at Entertainment Bars, Emotional Pubs, and Colateks

Mayor Kwon Young-jin of Daegu Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Seunggon Han] Daegu City has issued an administrative order banning gatherings at entertainment facilities for two weeks starting today (the 11th) to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

Daegu Mayor Kwon Young-jin announced this decision after holding an emergency meeting with the 'Daegu City Pan-Citizen Countermeasures Committee for Overcoming COVID-19,' the Infectious Disease Management Support Group, and related organizations.

Mayor Kwon explained, "Visitors to Itaewon clubs continue to appear, and it is judged that there is a possibility of community transmission caused by them," adding, "The issuance of the administrative order is an unavoidable measure to prevent the spread of infectious diseases."

Accordingly, Daegu City has ordered a ban on gatherings for all entertainment pubs in the city as well as emotional pubs and colatecs among general restaurants for two weeks starting today.

There are a total of about 1,300 entertainment facilities in Daegu, of which about 30 clubs and about 30 colatecs are operating.

Daegu City stated that mask-wearing and securing safe distances are not being properly implemented in multi-person close-contact facilities, making the situation very serious.

Earlier, from the 8th to the 11th, inspections were conducted on these facilities, and four clubs were found to have violated compliance requirements such as not wearing masks.

It was investigated that there are a total of 18 visitors from the Seoul metropolitan area clubs in Daegu. Among them, 14 tested negative for COVID-19 infection, and 4 are still under examination.

On the afternoon of the 8th, when additional infections of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) occurred at a club in Itaewon, Seoul, visited by patient number 66 from Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, the government issued an administrative order recommending the suspension of operations for one month at clubs and other entertainment facilities. A notice outlining compliance guidelines for entertainment facilities is posted in front of a club in Itaewon, Seoul, participating in the temporary closure.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Daegu City also announced that it will reconsider the mandatory mask-wearing order.

Mayor Kwon said, "Although 99.9% of Daegu citizens are wearing masks properly, there is a risk of infectious disease spread and community infection due to the 0.1% who do not wear masks," adding, "We will discuss at the Pan-Citizen Countermeasures Committee meeting whether to maintain the administrative order or relax it to a voluntary compliance recommendation."

He continued, "Since the administrative order on not wearing masks leads to reports, investigations by investigative agencies, and court rulings resulting in fines for cases of continuous non-compliance, there will be almost no cases where fines are actually paid," and apologized for causing misunderstandings.

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