Incheon City Bans Outdoor Gatherings and Events of Over 10 People: "Excessive Response Needed in Crisis Situations"

One-Third of Public Officials and Public Institution Employees Work from Home
Mandatory Mask Wearing Outdoors in Park Areas Proposed
Suspension of Operation of Resident Facilities in Apartment Complexes

Incheon Mayor Park Nam-chun is announcing strong measures equivalent to social distancing level 3 at the "Daily COVID-19 Response Situation Inspection Meeting" held on the 23rd.
[Photo by Incheon City]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] From midnight on the 24th, all outdoor gatherings or events with 10 or more people will be completely banned in the Incheon area.

Incheon City announced on the 23rd that it considers the increasing trend of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) in the region to be serious and will implement measures stronger than social distancing level 2.

First, starting from 0:00 on the 24th, an administrative order was issued to completely ban gatherings, meetings, and events where 10 or more people meet face-to-face outdoors.

Additionally, Incheon City officials and employees of public institutions under the city will work from home in shifts of one-third each, and to enhance the effect of overcoming the crisis and preventing spread, active participation from private companies will be encouraged.

From the 24th, all auxiliary facilities at Incheon Grand Park and Wolmi Park will be suspended, and an administrative order will be issued to mandate mask-wearing outdoors within park areas.

Operation of indoor sports facilities and study rooms installed in apartments and other multi-family housing, which are communal facilities for residents, will also be requested to be completely suspended.

Furthermore, if the COVID-19 spread worsens, not only churches but also religious facilities such as Catholic, Buddhist, and Islamic places of worship will be advised to refrain from face-to-face gatherings and events, and to conduct masses, worship services, and Dharma talks in a non-face-to-face manner.

Citizens are also urged to immediately visit health centers for testing if they have even slight symptoms suspected of COVID-19.

In Incheon, after a period of stability, 147 new confirmed cases have been added over 11 days from the 13th to the morning of the 23rd, raising concerns about community spread including church cluster infections.

On the morning of this day, 16 additional confirmed cases were reported, including 8 related to the COVID-19 cluster infection at 'Galilee Presbyterian Church' in Bupyeong-gu.

Park Namchun, Mayor of Incheon, said, "In this serious situation, to protect the lives of citizens and the community, we must respond with even excessive measures," and added, "Although it will be very inconvenient at first, this is an unavoidable measure to prevent greater inconvenience and sacrifice, so we ask citizens to actively cooperate with the quarantine measures."

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