Gwangju City Eases Social Distancing from Semi-Level 3 to Level 2

Measures Considering the Economic Difficulties of Small Business Owners and Self-Employed Workers

Kim Jong-hyo, Deputy Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, held an online briefing on COVID-19 on the morning of the 14th at the city hall briefing room, announcing the adjustment plan for social distancing level 2. Photo by Gwangju Metropolitan City

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City has reported fewer than 5 confirmed COVID-19 cases from local transmission over the past three days, leading to the easing of social distancing measures from quasi-Level 3 to Level 2.

This decision by Gwangju City is interpreted as a measure considering the economic difficulties faced by small business owners and self-employed individuals.

During an online briefing on COVID-19 on the morning of the 14th, Kim Jong-hyo, the Deputy Mayor for Administration, stated, “After comprehensively reviewing expert opinions from the Public-Private Joint Countermeasures Committee, we will adjust the priority management facilities where gatherings were prohibited to balance quarantine measures and economic activities,” adding, “This measure will be applied starting at 12 noon today.”

Accordingly, among the priority management facilities currently under a gathering ban due to quasi-Level 3 social distancing, seven facilities (large academies with 300 or more people, amusement parks, performance venues such as musicals and plays, privately operated indoor sports facilities, baseball and soccer stadiums, youth training facilities, and multi-rooms/DVD rooms) will have their quarantine level changed to gathering restrictions.

However, 14 facilities (clubs, room salons, and other entertainment bars, colatecs, danran bars, emotional bars, hunting pochas, karaoke rooms, indoor standing performance halls, buffets, indoor group exercise such as intense GX classes, door-to-door sales and direct sales promotion centers, religious facilities, university-operated indoor sports facilities and community sports clubs, bathhouses and saunas, and gikwons) will remain as “priority management facilities where gatherings are prohibited” until the 20th.

Additionally, all academies including large academies and privately operated indoor sports facilities must operate with fewer than 10 people, and multi-rooms/DVD rooms are limited to one person per 4 square meters.

Gwangju City has added quarantine rules appropriate for facilities changed to gathering restrictions.

For industries adjusted to gathering restrictions, it is common that if quarantine rules are violated, gatherings will be banned without exception, and if confirmed cases occur in facilities of the relevant industry, gathering bans will be imposed on the entire industry.

Deputy Mayor Kim Jong-hyo said, “The recent single-digit number of confirmed cases in our region is thanks to the active cooperation of our citizens,” and urged, “Please voluntarily practice quarantine rules in daily life and social activities.”

He added, “If you feel sick, do not endure it; instead of going to a hospital, go directly to a public health center screening clinic to get tested, and strictly follow personal quarantine rules such as proper mask-wearing and social distancing.”

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