Lee Jae-myung, Did the Tough Response to Itaewon COVID-19 Cluster Work?

The number of voluntary testers increased 26-fold from 136 on the 9th to 3,542 just four days after the press conference on the 10th

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] After Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung held a press conference on the 10th, the number of residents in the province who visited Itaewon clubs and Nonhyeon-dong sleeping rooms and sought COVID-19 testing has surged significantly.

Gyeonggi Province explained on the 13th that the number of voluntary COVID-19 testers, which was about 100 before Governor Lee's press conference, exceeded 3,500 on the 13th, increasing about 26 times in just four days.

The daily number of voluntary COVID-19 testers was ▲136 on the 9th ▲379 on the 10th ▲808 on the 11th ▲3,010 on the 12th ▲3,542 on the 13th.

Earlier, Governor Lee held an emergency press conference on the 10th and issued an emergency administrative order for COVID-19 infection testing and prohibition of interpersonal contact for visitors to Itaewon clubs and sleeping rooms in Gangnam Nonhyeon-dong.

He emphasized that residents who visited these two areas must get tested at clinics within the province between the 11th and 17th, and failure to comply will result in imprisonment of up to two years or a fine of up to 20 million won.

Under the current 'Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Act,' Articles 18, 46, and 47 stipulate that violating orders for infection testing and prohibition of interpersonal contact can result in imprisonment of up to two years or a fine of 20 million won.

Governor Lee also stated, "If the infection spreads due to (the individual), we will claim compensation for all quarantine costs, including treatment expenses for confirmed cases."

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