Concerns Over Student Group Infections... Incheon City Orders PC Rooms to 'Comply with Quarantine Rules' Until the 24th

Recommendation Together with Operator... Fine up to 3 Million Won for Violations

PC Bang [Photo by Asia Economy]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] Incheon City announced on the 16th that it will issue a 'Recommendation to Refrain from Operation and Order to Comply with Quarantine Rules' targeting PC rooms until the 24th to prevent student group infections of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and will conduct intensive inspections.

Accordingly, 920 PC rooms in the city must refrain from operating, and if operation is unavoidable, they must strictly comply with facility and industry-specific requirements. Violations will be subject to a fine of up to 3 million KRW under the 'Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Act.'

An official from Incheon City stated, "Since March, we have inspected compliance with quarantine rules at PC rooms and issued administrative guidance for 187 cases out of 2,927 inspections. Through this administrative order, we will strengthen guidance and inspections to do our best to prevent COVID-19 group infections."

On the 13th, the city also issued a recommendation to refrain from operation and an order to comply with quarantine rules for academies, singing practice rooms, and entertainment bars, which were excluded from the gathering ban order, and is conducting joint crackdowns with 10 districts and the Incheon Metropolitan Office of Education.

In particular, the Office of Education is conducting a full investigation of academy and tutoring instructors regarding their history of visiting Itaewon. As of the end of December last year, there are 11,915 academy and tutoring workers in the region, of which 11,524 are Korean nationals and 391 are foreigners.

In Incheon, the local community is on alert as secondary and tertiary infections have increased mainly among students who had contact with academy instructors confirmed positive after visiting Itaewon clubs. As of today, there are 15 confirmed cases related to academy instructors, including one fellow instructor, 10 students, two parents, one private tutor, and one acquaintance.

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