[2020 National Audit] 1,786 Judicial Cases for Violations of the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act... Violations of Gathering Bans and Quarantine Measures Ranked

Assemblywoman In Jae-geun: "Only 4 Cases of Detention Among Prosecutions for Obstructing Epidemiological Investigations"

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] The number of judicial prosecutions for violations of the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act related to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) reached a total of 1,786 cases as of August, with violations of gathering bans accounting for the largest number at 938 cases.

According to the National Assembly inspection data submitted by In Jae-geun (Democratic Party), a member of the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee, received from the National Police Agency, the total number of judicial prosecutions for violations of the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act was 1,786 cases (as of August 31), of which 956 cases were prosecuted. Ninety cases were not prosecuted, and 740 cases were under investigation.

By type of violation, violations of gathering bans (938 cases) were the most frequent, followed by violations of quarantine measures (650 cases), obstruction of epidemiological investigations (171 cases), and others (27 cases). Among the total 171 cases prosecuted for obstruction of epidemiological investigations, 23 were prosecuted, 9 were not prosecuted, and 139 were under investigation. Of the 23 prosecuted cases, only 4 resulted in detention.

Additionally, the number of COVID-19 related 112 emergency calls received from January to September this year totaled 51,244. Among these, 15,242 were suspicious reports, 2,116 were location confirmations, and 33,886 were other reports including false alarms.

According to the National Assembly inspection data submitted by In from the National Fire Agency, the total number of transfers and transports by fire stations nationwide related to COVID-19 from January to September this year reached 94,426. By type, confirmed patients numbered 15,314, suspected patients 70,663, specimen transports 1,503, and hospital transfers 978.

By region, Daegu had the highest number of confirmed patient transfers at 7,765, followed by Seoul (2,104), Gyeonggi (1,806), Gyeongbuk (1,563), Incheon (518), and Gwangju (493). For suspected patient transfers, the order was Gyeonggi (18,427), Seoul (15,853), Chungnam (5,112), Incheon (4,648), Gyeongbuk (4,486), and Daegu (3,666).

In said, "Health authorities need to pay close attention to ensure that fire and police personnel on the front lines of COVID-19 do not suffer infection damage through interdepartmental cooperation," adding, "When reviewing the infectious disease response system, comprehensive measures covering not only the medical field but also from report reception to transport should be prepared."

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