5000 Self-Quarantine Individuals Without 'Safety Protection App'... Phone Checks Also Ineffective

Future United Party Lawmaker Kang Ki-yoon Points Out "Safety Protection App for Location Tracking Also Not Installed"

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Hwang Choi Hyun-joo] Kang Ki-yoon, a member of the Future United Party in the National Assembly (Changwon Seongsan), revealed on the 1st that 5,216 quarantined individuals have not installed the 'Safety Protection App,' which allows quarantine authorities to check the real-time location of those in self-quarantine.

According to the data Kang received from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and his analysis, as of 6 p.m. on the 26th of last month, the total number of self-quarantined individuals, including suspected COVID-19 cases or close contacts of confirmed cases, was 33,552 domestically and 30,423 from overseas arrivals, totaling 63,975. Among them, 5,216, or 8.2% of the total, had not installed the Safety Protection App.

By region, Jeju had the lowest app installation rate at 74.5%, followed by Seoul (87.4%), Daegu (88.6%), Incheon (89.9%), and Gyeongnam (91%). Chungnam was the only local government where all self-quarantined individuals had installed the Safety Protection App (100%).

According to Kang, if self-quarantined individuals do not install the Safety Protection App, local governments and quarantine authorities must verify their location and other quarantine management details by phone at least twice a day. However, in reality, there have been numerous cases where quarantine authorities have not contacted or checked on quarantined individuals during the quarantine period.

Kang stated, "Due to the nature of phone calls, the effectiveness of location verification is also low," adding, "Especially for users of 2G phones, we should actively consider temporarily lending dedicated phones with the Safety Protection App installed to self-quarantined individuals and establishing legal grounds to require app installation for those in self-quarantine."

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