Gwangju City to Ease Social Distancing to Level 1 from the 12th... Penalties to Be Strengthened

No Limit on Gathering, Meeting, and Event Attendance but 1 Person per 4㎡ for Exhibitions and Festivals

Ban on 'Door-to-Door Sales and Direct Sales Promotion Centers' Eased to 'Gathering Restrictions'

Government-Designated High-Risk Facilitie

On the afternoon of the 11th, Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, held an online press conference in the city hall briefing room to announce the policy to ease social distancing to Level 1 starting from the 12th. Photo by Gwangju Metropolitan City

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City will ease social distancing from level 2 to level 1 starting at midnight on the 12th. However, penalties for violating quarantine measures will be strengthened.

On the 11th, Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-seop stated in an online briefing regarding COVID-19 response, “Since mid-September, the situation has stabilized, and there have been no confirmed local infections for 11 consecutive days,” adding, “From midnight on the 12th, the quarantine response level will be eased from social distancing level 2 to level 1. This decision was made after comprehensively considering the maintenance of COVID-19 stability, citizen fatigue from prolonged level 2 measures, the deterioration of the local economy, and expert opinions.”

Accordingly, restrictions on the number of people for gatherings, meetings, and events will be relaxed, and facility closures or suspension of operations will be minimized. However, precise quarantine measures will be strengthened according to the risk level of each facility, and penalties such as fines and claims for damages will be enforced more effectively to ensure responsibility in case of quarantine rule violations, transitioning to a precise daily quarantine system.

Specifically, ▲there will be no restrictions on the number of people for gatherings, meetings, and events held indoors or outdoors.

However, for five types of events that temporarily gather 100 or more people?exhibitions, fairs, festivals, large-scale concerts, and academic events?the number of attendees will be limited to one person per 4㎡ of facility area.

Also, all attendees of gatherings, meetings, and events held indoors or outdoors must mandatorily comply with core quarantine rules such as wearing masks and managing visitor logs.

In particular, facilities that are dense, close-contact, and enclosed, such as underground facilities, must be ventilated and disinfected thoroughly and regularly.

▲The ‘direct sales promotion centers’ such as door-to-door sales, which were previously subject to gathering bans, will have regulations eased to ‘gathering restrictions (mandatory quarantine rules).’

Group sports activities by community sports clubs will be allowed, but illegal door-to-door sales activities will still be subject to gathering bans.

▲For the 10 government-designated high-risk facilities including entertainment bars (①clubs, room salons, etc. ②colatecs ③danran bars ④emotional bars ⑤hunting pubs ⑥karaoke rooms ⑦academies with 300 or more people ⑧indoor group exercise (intense GX types) ⑨indoor standing concert halls ⑩buffets), ‘gathering restrictions’ will continue to be maintained according to government policy.

As before, quarantine rules such as mandatory mask-wearing, maintaining at least 1 meter distance inside facilities, regular ventilation of indoor operating facilities, mandatory visitor log keeping, designation of quarantine managers, and mandatory writing of quarantine inspection logs must be strictly followed.

▲Administrative measures for 28 types of gathering-restricted facilities such as religious facilities, PC rooms, bathhouses/saunas, game rooms/arcades will be changed from ‘mandatory’ to ‘recommended.’ Gathering-restricted facilities include religious facilities, PC rooms, bathhouses/saunas, game rooms/arcades, performance halls, indoor sports facilities, funeral halls, multi-rooms/DVD rooms, movie theaters, general restaurants (including general pubs), indoor wedding halls, cafes (expanded to include snack bars), study cafes and reading rooms, kids cafes, vocational training institutions, bakeries (including franchise types), call centers, prayer rooms, wholesale and auction markets, amusement parks, baseball and soccer stadiums, construction site cafeterias, company cafeterias, logistics warehouses, emergency care, after-school programs, outdoor golf practice ranges, model houses, youth training facilities, etc.

▲Social welfare facilities such as senior centers will resume operations, but eating inside the facilities will be prohibited. Daycare centers will operate normally, public facilities will allow up to 50% capacity, and sports games will allow up to 30% of the venue capacity.

The city plans to gradually expand these measures depending on the COVID-19 trend.

Since infection spread and fatality rates are very high in nursing homes when confirmed cases occur inside, only limited non-contact visits will be allowed for the time being.

Although social distancing is eased, penalties for violating quarantine measures will be strengthened.

The city will ▲impose gathering bans and fines up to 3 million KRW on facilities that violate mandatory quarantine rules ▲activate claims for damages and recourse against individuals or groups responsible for spreading local infections due to quarantine violations.

Gwangju City is already operating a Citizen Protection and Strict Punishment Committee chaired by the deputy mayor, and the Ministry of Justice plans to form and operate a consultative body (including the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, Central Disease Control Headquarters, and local governments) to exercise recourse rights against those who violate quarantine-related administrative orders.

Mayor Lee Yong-seop emphasized, “In the era of ‘With Corona,’ we must wisely learn lifestyles and habits to live with infectious diseases. Only then can citizens’ safety and livelihoods go hand in hand.”

He added, “The past 50 days have been a time of excruciating pain for all citizens. I sincerely thank all citizens who have strictly followed quarantine rules and actively cooperated with the quarantine authorities.”

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