Gwangju Citizens Strictly Followed Quarantine Rules to Prevent COVID-19 Massive Spread

Gwangju City Plays Key Role in Strong Preemptive Response with Level 2 Social Distancing Amid Second Wave

On the afternoon of the 2nd, Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, announced at the city hall briefing room the policy to downgrade social distancing from level 2 to level 1 starting from the 3rd. Photo by Gwangju Metropolitan City

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] The Gwangju area, which experienced a large number of confirmed COVID-19 cases during the second wave, is being evaluated as having successfully blocked an explosive widespread outbreak through strong preemptive measures by quarantine authorities and thorough compliance with quarantine rules by citizens.

According to Gwangju City on the 3rd, since the first confirmed COVID-19 case occurred in Gwangju on February 3rd, over six months have passed, and as of now, the total number of confirmed cases in the Gwangju area is 205.

Among these, 172 confirmed cases emerged during the second wave starting from June 27th, raising concerns that the situation might escalate into an explosive pandemic.

However, due to strong measures by Gwangju Metropolitan City and medical authorities, as well as citizens’ compliance with quarantine rules, the worst-case scenario was averted, with social distancing measures being downgraded from Level 2 to Level 1 on this day.

When COVID-19 rapidly re-spread from the ‘Daejeon-based door-to-door sales’ on June 27th, Gwangju City took out the strong card of ‘Social Distancing Level 2’ from the 2nd of last month until the 2nd of this month to extinguish the ‘big fire.’

This local government-led Social Distancing Level 2 measure was the first of its kind in Gwangju, reflecting the severity of the situation.

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s Central Accident Response Headquarters investigation, the number of mobile phone movements in the Gwangju area reached 948,000 on July 1st, the day before the implementation of Social Distancing Level 2, but dropped to 550,000 on the 12th, a decrease of as much as 42%.

In particular, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s Central Quarantine Countermeasures Headquarters evaluated the case where three companions who traveled about an hour by car with a confirmed patient in Gwangju tested negative due to strict adherence to quarantine rules as a model response case, demonstrating the high level of compliance by Gwangju citizens.

Thanks to these strong measures by quarantine authorities and active participation by citizens, although 22 confirmed cases occurred on the 1st of last month, the day before the implementation of Social Distancing Level 2, the daily average dropped sharply to 4 cases from the 2nd onward, rapidly slowing the spread, and ultimately leading to the lowering of Social Distancing from Level 2 to Level 1 as of August 3rd.

Gwangju City plans to prepare and implement mid- to long-term ‘With COVID-19’ measures for daily life, including mask-wearing, prohibition of close contact, refraining from visiting multi-use facilities, and compliance with vacation season guidelines.

Lee Jeong-sik, Director of the Autonomous Administration Bureau, said, “Although the second wave of COVID-19 progressed due to the influx of external infection sources, strong measures by quarantine authorities and voluntary compliance with quarantine rules by citizens were able to extinguish the big fire.”

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