"Is There No Punishment for Providing False Contact Information?" Club Visitors Unreachable... Public Outrage

5 Additional Confirmed Cases Related to Itaewon Clubs... Nationwide Cluster Infection at Least 89
Citizens "Punish False Contact Information" Outraged
Health Authorities "Need to Review Application of Infectious Disease Control Act for Intentional Call Avoidance"

On the 9th, at a pub located in Itaewon-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, a visitor is filling out a list. Photo by Yeonju Kim, intern reporter yeonju1853@asiae.co.kr

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ga-yeon] The cluster infection of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) originating from clubs in Itaewon, Seoul, is spreading. Among the visitors to the five clubs identified as having been visited by patient No. 66 from Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, who is presumed to be the first confirmed case related to the Itaewon clubs, about 3,000 people are reported to be 'unreachable' due to false personal information registration and other reasons.

Citizens are raising their voices, questioning whether acts such as providing false contact information or avoiding contact from quarantine authorities should be punished. There is concern that if more people deliberately evade epidemiological investigations by quarantine authorities, the risk of community infection spread could increase.

According to Seoul City on the 11th, as of 10 p.m. on the previous day (the 10th), out of 5,517 people listed as club visitors, 2,405 were contacted.

Park Won-soon, Mayor of Seoul, stated on TBS's 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory' and KBS1 Radio's 'Kim Kyung-rae's Strong Current Affairs' on the same day, "We have secured the club visitor list, and excluding duplicates, it amounts to about 5,517 people," adding, "Currently, 2,405 people have been contacted and guided to undergo COVID-19 testing, while the rest either provided false information or are deliberately not answering calls."

He continued, "For those who cannot be reached, we will not hesitate to conduct home visits and tracking together with the police," emphasizing, "We also plan to conduct a full investigation using telecommunications base station information. Since this concerns one's own safety, as well as the safety of neighbors and family, it is important to respond quickly, and thus we have no choice but to use enforcement measures."

In response to the spread of COVID-19, some pubs, restaurants, and cafes have started to prepare visitor logs. This is to facilitate contact tracing and epidemiological investigations by notifying visitors about potential exposure and testing if a confirmed case is identified at the establishment.

The problem is that false entries of names and phone numbers cannot be filtered out during this process, which could create gaps in the quarantine network if confirmed cases occur. Additionally, there are concerns that tracking is difficult if visitors paid in cash.

On the afternoon of the 11th, medical staff are conducting tests at the screening clinic of the Yeongdeungpo-gu Public Health Center in Seoul. Photo by Yonhap News

As a result, voices among citizens demanding punishment for false personal information registration are growing louder.

A in their 20s, an office worker who visited a pub in Mapo-gu, Seoul, last weekend, said, "I filled out the list at the entrance before going in," adding, "After completing it, I noticed that my companion had altered one or two characters in their name and phone number to fake entries."

A said, "When I later asked why they wrote fake information, they replied that it was because personal information might be at risk of leakage," and pointed out, "While I understand the concern about information leakage, isn't this an emergency situation? Even if not for cafes or restaurants, pubs and clubs should have separate measures such as ID verification."

The quarantine authorities plan to track visitors by requesting cooperation from credit card companies, police, and telecommunications providers. However, it is expected to be difficult to punish visitors who cannot be contacted.

Yoon Tae-ho, head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters' quarantine team, said at a regular briefing held at the Government Sejong Complex on the 11th, "It is difficult to accurately identify club visitors through telecommunications base station inquiries. Since people may have visited clubs nationwide, disaster safety messages were sent to everyone nationwide over the weekend," adding, "At the same time, we are continuously trying to contact about 3,000 people."

Yoon explained regarding those who deliberately do not answer calls from quarantine authorities, "According to the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act, refusing epidemiological investigations or providing false information can result in punishment, but whether simply not answering calls falls under these provisions requires further review."

Meanwhile, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and local governments on the same day, the nationwide number of confirmed cases from the Itaewon club cluster infection is at least 89.

On the same day, Gwanak-gu, Seoul, announced that a 25-year-old resident of Sillim-dong tested positive. This patient was investigated to have visited the Itaewon clubs in Yongsan-gu on the 2nd and 3rd. In addition, a man in his 30s (patient No. 36 in Dongjak-gu) who had contact with a coworker who visited the Itaewon clubs was confirmed positive, along with patient No. 11 in Dobong-gu (a 26-year-old male resident of Ssangmun 1-dong), patient No. 690 in Seoul (a 20-year-old male resident of Seodaemun-gu), and patient No. 7 in Gangbuk-gu (a 52-year-old female resident of Suyu-dong).

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