Middle and High School Students Visited PC Bang Visited by Gwangju Case No. 33... Health Authorities on Alert

Gwangju City to Implement 'Electronic Entry Log System' in PC Rooms Starting from the 22nd

Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-seop is giving a briefing on COVID-19 response on the 21st. Photo by Gwangju Metropolitan City

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] As it was investigated that Gwangju's 33rd confirmed COVID-19 patient stayed at a PC bang for about 8 hours, and it was confirmed that 193 middle and high school students used the facility during the same time, quarantine authorities are on alert.

Gwangju City has decided to implement an electronic entry log system at all PC bangs starting from the 22nd.

According to Gwangju City on the 21st, patient A, the 33rd confirmed case in Gwangju, stayed at Ian PC Cafe for about 8 hours, during which 193 people used the facility.

However, although the PC bang operates on a membership basis, only 64 members' identities have been confirmed so far, leading the city to judge that the accuracy and reliability of the membership list cannot be guaranteed. Therefore, they requested cooperation from the National Police Agency for identity verification and decided to implement the electronic entry log system at all PC bangs starting from the 22nd.

It is also estimated that a considerable number of middle and high school students used the PC bang. With the cooperation of the Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education, text messages are being sent to all teachers, parents, and students in local middle and high schools to identify students who used the PC bang.

Currently, the government designates karaoke rooms, entertainment bars, emotional pubs, colatecs, hunting pubs, danran pubs, indoor standing concert halls, and indoor group exercise facilities as high-risk facilities, requiring visitors to scan a one-time QR code upon entry. However, PC bangs are excluded from this list.

Considering that visits to PC bangs have been frequently confirmed in the movement paths of existing confirmed patients and the nature of PC bangs as enclosed spaces where many people gather closely, the city plans to proactively respond by designating PC bangs as high-risk facilities.

Meanwhile, the city estimates that patient A was infected in Jeonju after overlapping movement paths with Daejeon’s 50th and 55th confirmed patients on the 12th.

Patient A mainly stayed in Jeonju until the 18th and boarded Mugunghwa train No. 1463, car 3 (seats 21?47), at Iksan Station at 9 p.m. on the 19th, arriving at Gwangju Station at 10:17 p.m.

From Gwangju Station, patient A took bus No. 07, got off at Ilgok Intersection, and stayed at Ian PC Cafe from 11 p.m. until 6:50 a.m. on the 20th.

At around 1:30 p.m. on the 20th, patient A visited Emart Everyday in Ilgok-dong, then moved by guardian’s vehicle to the Buk-gu Public Health Center, where a specimen was collected at 2 p.m.

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