Busan City Implements Administrative Measure Requiring Restaurant Workers to Wear Masks

Increase in Restaurant Staff Not Wearing Masks Due to Summer Heat
Mask Wearing Mandatory from the 13th at General Restaurants, Cafes, and Bakeries

Busan City Hall building. Busan City has issued an administrative order mandating mask-wearing for restaurant workers.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] An administrative order requiring restaurant workers to wear masks has been issued in Busan. Until now, mask-wearing for restaurant employees was only recommended.

On the 5th, Busan City announced that it will implement an ‘Administrative Order Mandating Mask Wearing’ for restaurant workers in preparation for the resurgence of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

As the recent heat has increased, there have been more cases of restaurant workers not wearing masks. This measure was taken out of concern for the high amount of droplets generated during dining and conversation in restaurants.

The goal is to proactively block community transmission of COVID-19 by mandating mask-wearing for workers inside large restaurants.

The facilities required to enforce mask-wearing include 42,010 general restaurants, 9,901 snack bars, and 1,160 bakeries, totaling 53,071 locations.

The city plans to inspect these businesses for continuous mask-wearing by operators and workers, as well as compliance with infection prevention rules such as providing hand sanitizers inside the premises, regular ventilation, disinfection and cleaning before and after business hours, and prohibiting workers with fever or respiratory symptoms from working.

This administrative order will undergo a guidance period until the 12th and will be fully enforced starting on the 13th. Busan City will continuously conduct inspections with district offices, consumer monitors, and others to verify mask-wearing among restaurant workers.

After the guidance period, any cases of non-compliance with mask-wearing will be immediately reported without leniency. If damage or loss occurs due to COVID-19 prevention violations, the city plans to claim compensation.

Busan City also plans to increase single-person tables and encourage the installation of partitions between seats inside restaurants to reduce face-to-face situations among users, which are vulnerable to infection.

Considering the difficulties faced by restaurants due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, the city will support single-use plates and ladles and produce and provide informational stickers to encourage mask-wearing among restaurant users.

Shin Je-ho, Director of the Welfare and Health Bureau of Busan City, said, “The COVID-19 vaccine can be considered a mask. There are many cases where close contacts did not get infected due to mask-wearing.” He added, “We hope not only workers but also restaurant users will follow the restaurant usage rules well, such as maintaining distance to prevent droplet transmission, serving food individually, refraining from conversation while eating, and talking while wearing masks before and after meals.”

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